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Sat Eye Candy: Guns NÂ’ Roses

January 22nd, 2011 | No Comments

GOOD LORD, THEY WERE ONCE TITANS!

Rock is full of tantalizing Â“what ifsÂ” but perhaps no single band has inspired more of them than Guns N’ Roses. What if Axl Rose hadn’t become a money squandering, megalomaniac control freak? What if Izzy Stradlin had stayed involved? What if the band that made Appetite For Destruction had gotten to evolve longer before the gold toilets and limos arrived? Ask anyone who was ground zero when the band roared out of Los Angeles in 1987 and the general consensus was one of the greatest rock Â‘n’ roll outfits ever was being born. But unlike the Stones, Zeppelin, et al. it quickly descended into madness, acrimony, self-indulgence and Olympian scale ego. It’s not to say that Use Your Illusion isn’t brilliant in parts, but in a single album’s time the over-tinkering fussiness that marks almost all of their subsequent work was already evident. The rawness and possessed invention of Appetite never surfaced again, devoured by the fame machine, lawyers, overblown, under-thought concepts and their own big, dumb mouths. And still, there’s more than a few who wonder what might have been for G n’ R if they’d been strong or smart to follow a different path. Would that band have brought us their own Sticky Fingers or Houses of the Holy? Might they still be making rock that reconnects one to the lascivious juju of Chuck Berry, Johnny Rotten and Elvis? It’s a mighty wistful Â“what if.Â”

Today is original Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler’s 46th birthday. It’s a bit of a surprise that he’s still with us at all given the life he’s lived, but one thing he’ll always have is being part of one of THE great moments in rock history, brief as it was. Truly a band that internalized the whole Â“better to burn out than fade awayÂ” mentalityÂ…and then lost control of the monster, which limps along still, powered by the residual love and excitement that remains from their late 80s heyday. Still, there’s some real moments and we’re gonna celebrate a few in honor of Steven’s bday. (Dennis Cook)

Where better to begin our stroll down seedy memory lane than Â“Paradise City,Â” a tune with all the sack swinging perfection of Â“Won’t Get Fooled AgainÂ” or Â“Black Dog.Â”

The creepy tingle that went up our collective spine the first time we heard this one is impossible to shake, the whole enterprise ringing with menace and bad intent, the sound of dreams crashing down into harsh reality.

An ugly little gem that evokes both 70s Stones and the New York Dolls.

Oh, Big Hair Axl, you were fun and wrote great, gritty love songs!

A cautionary tale about heroin that’s still so catchy it makes you understand on a non-verbal level why people dance with ol’ Mister.

Like most really great songs, the tunes off Appetite have a lot of malleability. The bands early dip into acoustic territory was one of the best things they ever did.

The ladies were right at the core of early Guns N’ Roses, represented by some of the rankest misogyny ever and an almost school boy sincerity and sweetness. We conclude our lil’ salute to the G n’ R that might have been with two about women, one sour and one as sweet as its title.

New Monsoon/Izabella | 02.06 | S.F.

February 10th, 2010 | No Comments

Words by: Dennis Cook | Images by: Susan J Weiand

New Monsoon/Izabella :: 02.06.10 :: Great American Music Hall :: San Francisco, CA

Talent will out.

New Monsoon :: 02.06 :: San Francisco

It’s an expression I adore because it basically says that one’s gifts will shine through regardless of the hardships, disregard and other flotsam hurled at anyone brave enough to put their passion and art in the public eye. Frequently, riches, as defined by the culture at large, will elude even the most talented folks. It’s just one of the cruel facts of life, where less-than-half-talents tapped by the corporate machine thrive and real artists chip away in their rag-and-bone way. However, there are rewards in this life far greater than a sack of silver, and following one’s vision and fully exploring one’s craft offer some pretty sweet satisfaction.

Such were my thoughts during this wholly enjoyable, musically dense evening inside one of San Francisco’s most storied venues as two of the most consistently satisfying, sonically lush bands in Northern California plied their trade. I’ve known most of the members of New Monsoon for close to a decade, and the rhythm section of Izabella for close to the same, and yet each time I see both acts play they’re all just a bit better – generally sharper, moving with greater group fluidity, full of a seemingly endless supply of solos that remind one why such spotlights flip our switch so thoroughly. And this long, happy night at the Great American Music Hall had an even more pronounced sense that every dude onstage was exactly where the universe meant them to be. An ebullient positivity permeated the room. I almost want to kick my own ass writing something so saccharine but there was no denying that being in this space, awash in this music, one felt slightly scrubbed and returned to the outside world a touch better. What drains the sap from the positive edge both bands possess is an insistence that reality be acknowledged and massaged into their compositions. Thus, one finds sounds that give them wings but have a very human weight, which may make it harder to achieve liftoff but make it all the more rewarding when one hits open air.

Mark Karan & Jeff Miller :: 02.06 :: San Francisco

In a nutshell, Izabella and New Monsoon are rock bands in the mold of the 60s/70s greats, where the basic character is rock but they’re unafraid to incorporate numerous other elements. So one picks up on the jazz sweep of Chicago and the Allmans, the Latin bent of Traffic and War, the street soul of the Doobie Brothers and the folk leanings of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Poco, but only in the vaguest ways – like their forebears, they are doing their own thing. What amazes me, even after all these years, is how wonderfully accessible both groups are; not just approachable but active in their reaching out. They pull us from our spot on the bench and get us into the game. Even arriving to their show wicked tired or emotionally off-kilter, one soon finds themselves letting their resistance and hardness drop. I’ve experienced it countless times with their music, especially live, and dragging in after a particularly challenging working week this Saturday it happened again. From Izabella’s opening notes – a warming breeze out of a rainy day – through two magnificent sets by New Monsoon – embiggened further by periodic guest spots from RatDog‘s guitar gaucho Mark Karan and former Monsooner and tabla stud Rajiv Parikh – one felt a connective charge surge between the large crowd and the musicians. Some trips we take together, whether we realize it consciously or not, and this was one of them. Such was the enfolding nature of both band’s music, which sort of demanded smiles and cheers with its fundamental exuberance and joie de vivre.

This “review” may seem all broad strokes but neither New Monsoon nor Izabella can be easily summed up in a few words. Almost ten years on I’m still curious where they’re gonna take me and the rest of an audience. I’m still intrigued with their highly individual senses of what constitutes “rock,” and I’m continually impressed at their warmheartedness and ability to express it through song. I could wax poetic about the borderless interplay of NM’s Bo Carper‘s glassy banjo and Parikh’s heartbeat percussion, or the cool dovetailing of guitar styles with Karan and NM’s Jeff Miller – two of my all-time favorite six-stringers full of classic rock feel and jazzbo chops. I might crow to you about the bang-up new Chuck Berry style rave-up written and sung by Izabella keyboardist Sam Phelps, or perhaps the delightful shiver the Garcia covers by both bands sent through the crowd – Izabella’s “West L.A. Fadeaway” was sexy great and NM’s tackling of “Mission In The Rain” was stunning and a bittersweet reminder of the incredible gigs they did at the much missed 12 Galaxies. But this night was too sweet, too dear to be picked apart and dissected for its constituent parts. Talent will out, or at least it surely did this evening in San Francisco.

New Monsoon tour dates available here.

Continue reading for more pics of Izabella and New Monsoon in San Francisco…

Izabella

Continue reading for more pics of New Monsoon in San Francisco…

New Monsoon




with Mark Karan
Mark Karan
with Mark Karan
with Rajiv Parikh
Rajiv Parikh

JamBase | Bay Area
Go See Live Music!

50 Unsung Classics of the 2000s (Pt. 1)

February 10th, 2010 | No Comments

By: Dennis Cook

Hey, we love Radiohead’s Kid A, OutKast’s Stankonia and My Morning Jacket’s Z as much as all the other music press hailing these albums as the best produced in the first decade of the new century. But, there was a LOT of incredible music made between 2000-2009 that isn’t showing up on the mega-lists at Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, etc. As is often the case, the most exciting music is frequently made outside the spotlight, working in bedrooms and basements to inch sound, composition and musicianship forward with sweat, determination and great invention.

This feature is an attempt to gather up a healthy sampling of some of the most amazing albums we encountered during the past decade that aren’t getting the recognition that their craftsmanship and creativity deserve. We at JamBase consider it our mission to seek out and share such quality work with our readers. We understand how the right album brought into someone’s hands can impact their life in ways that go way beyond entertainment or distraction. Oh, those are good, too, and we’re the first ones to encourage y’all to have a good time on this planet (trust us, as the old ditty goes, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think…), but we approach music as something bigger and more important than just another commodity to be consumed and discarded. And so do each and every one of the artists included in this piece.

These selections represent a yearning for something – be it release or revelation, empathy or endorphin stimulation, a chance to set history straight or simply a telling of stories that need to be shared. Even the most jovial albums here engage with their craft with a seriousness and intent that’s palpable. With a few notable exceptions, most were made without much thought of charts, video exposure or People Magazine spreads. Something deeper and more intensely intangible drives these folks, and the results are albums that richly reward our own dedication of time and attention in endless ways.

This is not an attempt to be hipster-cool or one-up the competition. There’s no hierarchy of any kind to this assortment. This feature’s intent is much simpler: We aim to lay some beautiful, brightly thoughtful music at your feet in the hopes you’ll discover something that moves and delights you. Hidden amongst this intentionally jumbled selection are albums with the power to shake your foundations or just shake what mama gave ya. Either way, there’s gold in them hills and it’s waiting there for you happy prospectors.

50 Unsung Classics of the 2000s (Pt. 1)

1. Chris Whitley featuring Billy Martin & Chris Wood: Perfect Day (2000)

Whitley was snatched from us by lung cancer in 2005, but before he shuffled off he produced one of the most amazing catalogs in the past two decades, and this collaboration with MMW‘s rhythm team stands amongst his best work. Ostensibly a cover tune set, the trio, through empathetic interplay and wisely chosen platforms, puts an individual stamp on every tune, even iconic numbers like Dylan’s “4th Time Around” and Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful.” What’s remarkable is how these heavyweights under-play throughout, using their talents with sharply focused discretion and instinct. They play to the song and to one another, and the convergence of these elements results in a collection that makes one look at Whitley, Wood and Martin AND the artists they cover in a brand new light.

2. Joe Bataan: Call My Name (2005)

The King of Latin Soul reclaims his crown on this career-resurrecting marvel. A household name in ghettos and barrios everywhere in the 1970s, Bataan had been out of sight for almost 20 years when young NYC producer/composer Daniel Collas came calling. He’d created a series of instrumentals with Bataan in mind and managed to lure the legend back into the studio. What the pairing created is every bit the equal of Bataan’s heyday Salsoul records, a genre he almost single-handedly birthed that blends Afro-Cuban, Puerto Rican, and South American musical motifs and has influenced everything from disco to reggaeton to mainstream soul. Tracks like dance floor dynamite “Chick A Boom” and slow jam extraordinaire “I’m The Fool” revealed a richness and maturity to Bataan’s voice, and surrounded by a largely unknown but absolutely stunning group of young musicians, the man has never sounded better.

3. Marc Ford: It’s About Time (2003)

Known primarily as the on-again, off-again lead guitarist in The Black Crowes, Ford’s solo debut revealed a mature, highly satisfying composer and singer very much in the vein of Ronnie Wood’s ’70s solo efforts. The title is a nod to the six years after his first expulsion from the Crowes that it took him to release this, but listening to stunners like the prickly “Feels Like Doin’ Time,” the unvarnished sweetness of “Darlin’ I’ve Been Dreamin’” or the thundering smack of “Two Mules and a Rainbow” (where he’s backed by the original trio lineup of Gov’t Mule, who also appear on the Crazy Horse-like “Just Let It Go”) one can’t help wonder how the Crowes might’ve evolved had they welcomed Ford’s compositions into the mix. Ford is one of the guitarists of his generation but this album showed there was far more to him than solos.

4. Subtle: For Hero: For Fool (2006)

One of the most underrated bands of the past decade, Subtle have aggressively sought newness, originality and angular accessibility. A furious swirl of future forward hip hop, advanced electronica, antique prog flavors and stratospheric experimentation, For Hero alternates between bludgeoning and tickling one’s psyche. Often it’s felt first before the mind can comprehend what this snarled cultural pipe bomb is blowing up about, but there’s simply no way to NOT react to what they’re laying down. This Oakland/S.F.-based crew melds academic level discourse with devastating musicianship and fearless sonic curiosity. For all the accolades Radiohead, Beck (who once asked these guys to be his backing band!) and others have received in recent years, Subtle is equally, if not more, deserving.

5. Opeth: Blackwater Park (2001)

The metal world knows and loves Sweden’s Opeth, but it’s albums like the landmark Blackwater Park that make them one of the finest bands – genre tags be damned – on Earth. Inserting exciting atmospheric rumbles and nakedly beautiful melodic elements into an incredibly heavy sound not only changed the game for themselves but for metal in the larger sense. With this release, stunningly produced by Porcupine Tree‘s Steven Wilson, Opeth showed one could have both grumbling, black tinged vocals and proper, even pretty singing, not only on one album but within a single song. Everything about Blackwater screams of an artistry way beyond most of their metal peers, and announced an ambition to reach beyond the cliches of their chosen genre. Everyone in thrall to Mastodon’s Crack The Skye is encouraged to explore one of the cornerstones in that band’s sound and approach.

6. Caetano Veloso: A Foreign Sound (2004)

While revered in Brazil and Europe on the level of Neil Young, Leonard Cohen or Bob Marley, Veloso is known primarily to a dedicated cult in the U.S. This is partially due to the fact that he’s rarely recorded in English. And while his native Portuguese is pleasing to the ear, to most monolingual Americans it’s just sound. For only the second time in his long career – the first being his brilliant, sorrowful self-titled 1971 album made while in exile in England – Veloso puts his golden pipes and sublime phrasing to work on English language material, delving into Jerome Kern (“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”), Elvis Presley (“Love Me Tender”), Irving Berlin (“Blue Skies,” “Always”), Talking Heads (“Nothing But Flowers”) and Nirvana (“Come As You Are”). It’s a dizzying assortment handled with utmost class, and perhaps the finest gateway into Veloso’s work a neophyte could find.

7. Buck 65: Talkin’ Honky Blues (2003)

Canada’s Richard Terfry (aka Buck 65) had been filed under hip hop since his emergence in the late ’90s, but this release pushed him further afield than that simple category could contain. Madly snatching scraps of Woody Guthrie, Gil Scott-Heron, Tom Waits, Laurie Anderson, Eric B and Rakim and countless other visionaries, Buck expunged a brilliant song cycle that neatly bridged the worlds of underground hip hop, spoken word, and post-Radiohead rock, and managed to do it without overt studiousness. Instead, this Honky spills positivity and thoughtful enzymes everywhere, encouraging us to find happiness and purpose no matter how little our bank accounts hold.

8. Autechre: Draft 7:30 (2003)

Much of the bleeps and bloops of today’s electronic players is informed by English duo Rob Brown and Sean Booth. Never anxious to fill dance floors, these studio artisans excel at breaking preconceptions of what constitutes a song or even what one calls “music.” Full of sharp angles, disorienting digressions, unstable rhythms and noises that seem not-of-this-world, Draft 7:30 adds something like a groove. It was and remains their most accessible album and a landmark blueprint for all the button pushers and pitch wheel benders that have followed in their footsteps.

9. The Society of Rockets: Our Paths Related (2007)

The word ‘psychedelic’ is so overused it should probably be retired. But, it’s also an incredibly useful shorthand for an altered state of consciousness and perhaps a more tactile engagement with the universe at large. Which brings us to this stunning, honestly psychedelic album by this criminally unknown San Francisco group. For sure it’s rock ‘n’ roll – the kinetic guitars and slicing, fabulous vocals make that clear – but one can reach out and tug on the Super Strings of culture and consciousness woven into this song cycle. This Path leads us to engagement in an age that encourages us to remain separate and build walls against our neighbors. What’s incredible is how it takes us on such a road without sounding holier-than-thou or preachy, and even manages to be great fun while it skips through the fire and tumult around us.

10. Fannypack: So Stylistic (2003)

Lookin’ mad cute and taking sips of your ripple, Fannypack exploded out of New York City, shakin’ that ass and proud as hell to hail from the home of Biggie and P. Diddy. Few albums of any time period exude this level of whoo-ha, hands-in-the-air excitement and bargain basement ingenuity. Cat, Belinda and Jessibel – three deceptively goofy yet curiously skilled lady MCs – backed by the beat manipulation and sample savvy of two dudes named Matt and Fancy sounds like a recipe for forgettable dance fluff. Yet, this is one of the few albums to really capture the mojo of hip hop’s revered ancestors like the Sugarhill Gang and Liquid Liquid and run with it. Between the irresistible handclap frenzy, laugh out loud rhymes and near-cartoon Brooklyn accents you almost miss how damn good the songwriting, production and performances are. If all you know is novelty hit “Cameltoe” – easily the weakest cut here – then it’s time to get knee deep in this Fanny. Throw this on – LOUD – fire up a few thrift store strobe lights and crack open a case of cheap beer and you’ve got a party. Believe that!

Continue reading for next batch of sublime selections from the past decade…

11. AC/DC: Black Ice (2008)

Malcolm and Angus Young dug deeper as composers on their fifteenth studio album than they had since the last record with “Black” in the title. It’s easy to dismiss AC/DC as a known quantity but Black Ice expands their Chuck Berry, crosscut blues inspired hardcore basic thump with sugary pop (“Anything Goes”) and a classic that approaches bittersweet melancholy for these Aussies (“Rock N Roll Dream”). This on top of some of the sturdiest rockers they’ve mustered in more than two decades (“Skies On Fire,” “Spoilin’ For A Fight” and the ominous title cut). Long after most of their peers have ceased being a force in the studio, AC/DC is as ready for action as ever, captured magnificently in all their glorious, ballsy greatness by Brendan O’Brien, who lit similar fires under Springsteen and Pearl Jam this past decade.

12. James Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Ali Jackson & Reginald Veal: Gold Sounds (2005)

Trust me, you’ve never heard Pavement like this. Born from the question, “What album would we want to buy which doesn’t exist?” this set finds four of the strongest players in jazz tackling Pavement gems like “Cut Your Hair,” “Stereo,” “Blue Hawaiian” and “Summer Babe” with off-handed grace, unearthing jam pockets and structural beauty hitherto unknown in the work of Stephen Malkmus and company. Gold Sounds harks back to the 1960s jazz scene that playfully and fearlessly wrangled with the rock and pop worlds to create hybrids instructive to both. Veal, Jackson, Chestnut and Carter reveal a sophistication not usually afforded to “indie rock,” even with a band as revered as Pavement, and in the process show off a totally new side of themselves that’s pretty damn cool, too.

13. Otis Taylor: Respect The Dead (2002)

Otis Taylor is the deepest, finest thing to whack the blues upside the head in the past 10 years. With strong African elements, he’s roughed up the smoothness that’s infiltrated the blues since the 1980s and returned some of the mystery and danger intrinsic to the genre before it got gussied up for mainstream white consumers. Undeniably black in heritage, Taylor isn’t overbearing in his handling of race, but neither is he shy in exposing the pervasive racism marbled into American society. Respect The Dead, his fourth album, is the pinnacle of several collaborations with bassist/producer Kenny Passarelli and haunting guitarist Eddie Turner. Full of resounding heart but frightfully unsentimental, Respect is inhabited by the sorts of ghosts and tales that cling to the best blues, drawing us down to the crossroads again and again, despite knowing what sorts of things await us there.

14. Scott Amendola Band: Believe (2005)

Believe is one of the most artful, engaging instrumental albums of the past quarter century. Birthed in both the jazz and alternative rock spheres, this set is so free-ranging and capable at all moods and textures that one happily gives up on trying to categorize it. Amendola, a world-class percussionist and staple of the Bay Area improv scene, gathered some of the best musicians alive for a mix of “voices” that’s absolutely intoxicating. Pre-Wilco Nels Cline intertwines with Tortoise’s Jeff Parker for one of the most exciting guitar pairings ever, and the group is rounded out by evocative violinist Jenny Scheinman and bassist John Shifflett. Music this fearless is rarely so well constructed or grandly eloquent.

15. Matt Deighton : The Common Good (2002)

Perhaps the most apt touchstone for Deighton’s work is vintage Traffic, right down to utterly satisfying singing, playing and songwriting worthy of Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi at their peak. This crazy talented Englishman is largely unknown outside the U.K., where he’s had chart success with the short-lived Mother Earth and even played guitar for Oasis for a spell. The Common Good is the best place for new listeners to jump in, though you’ll likely find yourself scrambling to scoop up his somewhat elusive catalog after you’ve digested it. The album features well-placed guest turns from Paul Weller, Mick Talbot (Style Council), Marco Nelson (Adam & The Ants) and others stalwarts of post-Mod British music. Anyone sweet on ALO, The Mother Hips and other substantive, song-based rock are heartily encouraged to check out Deighton.

16. Bill Frisell: The Intercontinentals (2003)

Frisell – pretty much an endlessly exciting, unpredictable guitarist and musical visionary – has always operated without borders. His style and general sensibilities speak of a man who’s just as turned on by down home country music as he is by samba, electric fusion, distorto-improv and nursery rhymes. However, he’s rarely been as forthright in his worldly perspective as The Intercontinentals, which mingles Greg Leisz‘s breathtaking pedal steel with Sidiki Camara chattering calabash and djembe, Jenny Scheinman’s freebird violin excursions, Christos Govetas‘s sophisticated oud and bouzouki, and the sinewy guitars of Vinicius Cantuaria. What could be a hideous Benetton sound clash turns out to be a fabulous hot pot of hugely diverse styles and timbres finding common ground. This is the sound of a planet bleeding its cultures into one, with individual flecks left intact but the greater pattern being a shared one.

17. Tim Bluhm: California Way (2006)

Captured in a single day, this represents the burning core of The Mother Hips’ lanky golden genius. Armed almost exclusively with just his phenomenally expressive voice and clean, incisive acoustic guitar, Bluhm dives into a specially selected sweep through his massive catalog and comes out the other side with one of the finest singer-songwriter albums ever made, a work on par with Joni Mitchell’s Blue and Bert Jansch’s Birthday Blues in terms of its intimacy, unabashed feeling and quiet yet potent show of skill. “Tiara Dievers” has the ageless beauty and understanding of music handed from picker to picker over long years, and small, movingly etched vignettes like “Shiny Leather Shoes,” “Envelope Please” and the incredible title track further mark Bluhm as one of the shining lights of his generation. California Way makes it nakedly obvious how stupidly gifted the man is.

18. Brain Donor: Too Freud To Rock ‘N’ Roll, Too Jung To Die (2003)

Julian Cope had the best decade of his long, circuitous career in the 2000s, but he’d never had as much marvelous, dumb fun as Brain Donor before. This English uber-power trio – Cope (bass, vocals) and Spiritualized members Kevin Bales (drums) and Doggen Foster (guitar) – slurped hungrily from Blue Cheer and Detroit’s filthy best (Stooges, MC5) and spat out a viscous gob all their own. For the many claims of “return to rock” one encountered in the press for relative lightweights like the Strokes and Kings of Leon, one needed only to tap into this bunch for a flood of the sticky, unruly good stuff. Too Freud… gathers together their early singles and a smattering of suitably rough live tracks on two discs that celebrate love, peace and fucking. Pagan ’nuff to give shoutouts to Loki and Odin and savvy enough to see the promise in covering Van Halen’s “Atomic Punk,” Brain Donor does their forebears right by keeping rock uncivilized and a lil’ scary.

19. Christina Aguilera: Back To Basics (2006)

There’s a temptation to assume that anything from the mainstream just sucks out loud. That’s largely true but overly dismissive, especially when an incredible pop record like this is hiding amongst the dross. While Aguilera’s teen work failed to achieve any real depth, this album announced an artist with her sights on the enduring work of Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Chicago. Spread out over a double album, Back To Basics finds Christina working with Steve Winwood, Gang Starr’s DJ Premier and Mark Ronson, but the real secret is her own vision, crafted with under-credited songwriter-producer Linda Perry, who largely helms the more experimental, rangy second disc. The team of Perry and Aguilera is every bit the equal of the more ballyhooed Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, and killers like “Makes Me Wanna Pray,” “Still Dirrty” and “Candyman” rank amongst the mainstream’s best in a long while. With the exception of a few duds – inevitable on almost any double record – Back To Basics is worthy of the ancestors Aguilera reveres. Scoff if you want, but approached with an open mind this is a fantastic album.

20. Efterklang: Parades (2007)

Parades is probably unlike almost anything you’ve heard. With a name that smacks of promising onomatopoeia, Efterklang is joined here by a brass quintet, several choirs and a string quartet, alongside the usual rock instrumentation and a healthy dose of electronic manipulation. At the risk of hyperbole, Parades may be the most achingly lovely merger of electro-acoustic elements to ever sneak out of the experimental realm and into our hearts. Hailing from Denmark, there’s a sizeable remove from what anyone in the alternative scene in the States is doing, but their sound has some resonance with recent work from Grizzly Bear and Midlake, though Efterklang is a touch bolder in their aspirations. Since its release, Parades has been performed live in a theatrical production with The Danish National Chamber Orchestra captured on last year’s Performing Parades audio/video release.

21. Richmond Fontaine: Post To Wire (2004)

While a number of their contemporaries at the birth of what’s become known as Americana, notably Wilco, have gone onto wider fame and riches, Portland, Oregon’s Richmond Fontaine have steadily and unobtrusively carved out a ceaselessly rich, intense, original sound that marks them as one of the great American acts of our age. Master storyteller Willy Vlautin leads this subtle ensemble, who can rage with the best of them but often prefer to simmer and slide more elusively. The characters in their songs hum with vibrant, often painful life and bear the same scars and wear ‘n’ tear as most folks living paycheck to paycheck and hoping they’ll be just a smidgen better than their past. Post To Wire signaled an awakening to the band in England and Europe after they’d already been toiling productively (if not lucratively) since 1994. Since then they’ve developed a fervent following overseas that has them pond hopping several times a year. Stateside they’re still relatively unknown outside a smaller but equally dedicated fan base, but one hopes that the stirring power of their music, as exemplified by Post To Wire, will ultimately get the recognition it deserves in their native land.

22. Salvatore: Fresh (2001)

A call to prayer for digital children – a muezzin beckoning us inwards. Norway’s Salvatore was a six-piece instrumental unit that sounded like what might have happened if someone sent a copy of the Boards of Canada’s Music Has The Right To Children through time to say Amon Duul or Can. Recorded in Morocco with portable generators and ad hoc equipment, Fresh is planted in foreign soil, redolent with ancient history translated by modern instruments, unfolding on an eternal loop, swallowing its tail while simultaneously growing new coils. Even on repeat, the album never arrives in the same way and gives one the feeling that the music continues on in another realm long after you push stop. Beginning with “Get The Kids On The Streets It’s A Party” and winding through sandy corridors like “100 Camels In The Courtyard” (a nod to author Paul Bowles), Fresh is the open-ended promise of contemporary instrumental music that recognizes few boundaries in its evocation of dust-swirled dawn and burnished, electric evening glow.

23. Edan: Primitive Plus (2002)

Though he got more alterna-ink for 2005′s Beauty and the Beat (currently his last proper album), Edan’s debut was one of those word-of-mouth treasures that folks enamored of Anticon Records and their ilk were handing around to pals for years before the critics caught wind of him. Raw as early Wu-Tang but possessed of a humor and frankly Caucasian flava far removed from the 36 Chambers, Primitive Plus is a thrilling gumball machine full of colorful, wildly flavored treats. Foul mouthed and book smart, Edan shows what a clever boy with a few tools – the proverbial two turntables and a microphone in many instances – can achieve. As far as hip hop has come from its roots in 2010, this album can bring you back to the fundamentals with a quickness that’ll snap your neck.

24. Robyn Hitchcock: Spooked (2004)

All longtime fans of one another’s work, Hitchcock, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings holed up at Woodland Studios in Nashville and got inside the best set of tunes Robyn had penned in years. Spooked builds on the solo acoustic bent of earlier Hitchcock albums like I Often Dream of Trains and Eye, and the presence of Rawlings and Welch adds considerably to the nuances and sonic charge of this still fairly reserved collection. There is laughter and love and genuine weirdness in these grooves, which retain the intimacy of the trio even when they liven things up. There are few better, more clear-eyed love songs than “Sometimes A Blonde” and few so-called kid’s tunes that compare with “We’re Gonna Live In The Trees.” Further pleasures lie in their handling of Dylan’s “Trying To Get To Heaven Before They Close The Door” and Hitchcock’s pop culture bashing “Television.” More than anything, this is wonderfully enjoyable music that feels like we’ve been allowed to listen in on a cool, private conversation between the three principles.

25. The Servants: Mostly Monsters (2002)

This long defunct California hard rock unit found the sweet spot between The Black Crowes’ Southern Harmony & Musical Companion and Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite For Destruction with this woefully overlooked debut. Produced by drummer Chris Kontos – a veteran of Machine Head, Exodus, boffo Zep tribute band Custard Pie and many more – this neatly joins classic rock sensibilities to razor sharp modern hard rock. What elevates this above the pack is an embrace of boogie and listener tickling lyrics that suggest we all missed out on one of the greatest good time bands of all-time. From the snaky turns of “Fade Resistant” to the power ballad greatness of “Waiting” and a primo cover of Skynyrd’s “Saturday Night Special,” Mostly Monsters is crushing quality hard rock powered by Valhalla shaking percussion, air guitar worthy riffing and a lead singer, Tony Malson, who has most of the long haired mic jockeys beat all to hell. Kontos currently drums for Attitude Adjustment and has a new project, SpiralArms, with their studio debut coming out in 2010 and the teasers on their website have some of The Servants’ flavor, so maybe this round more folks will tune in and rock out properly.

Check back next week for numbers 26-50 of our Unsung Classic Albums of the 2000s…

JamBase | Listening Intently
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Mos Def & Kweli: “History” Video

January 5th, 2010 | No Comments

MOS DEF DEBUTS VIDEO FOR “HISTORY” FEATURING TALIB KWELI

Mos Def has debuted the new video for “History,” the third single from his Grammy nominated album The Ecstatic. The track features a collaboration with Talib Kweli, who makes a special guest appearance in the video.

Watch the video now:

Mos Def has been touring the across the world showcasing The Ecstatic, and was recently nominated for two Grammys, including Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance for his single “Casa Bey,” increasing his career total to five nominations.

In addition to his solo nominations, Mos Def’s recreation of Chuck Berry‘s “Nadine,” featured on the Cadillac Records soundtrack, received a Grammy nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media.

Fans can also catch Mos Def on two tracks off the collaboration album with the Black Keys entitled Blakroc, as well as on the Gorillaz latest album, to be released next year.

Johnny Winter: The Blues’ Last Outlaw

November 6th, 2009 | No Comments

By: Jarrod Dicker

When Old Man Winter comes to town
He’s got a special way of dropping in
And spreading cheer around
You know [the blues] is around the bend
And he won’t let you down
When Old Man Winter comes to town

-Old Man Winter (Revisited) by The Moffatts

Johnny Winter

It’s been a cold 40 years of Winter.

Since 1969 Johnny Winter has conquered all that there is to seize in the “blues race.” He has been awarded Grammy accolades, performed at the original Woodstock festival, been recognized as one of the supreme guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone, and been inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. He has collaborated, live and in studio, with myriad musicians of various genres, from Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin to Muddy Waters and B.B. King, even jamming with the young guitar proteges Derek Trucks and a href=”http://www.jambase.com/Artists/Artist.aspx?artistID=7600″>John Mayer. Johnny’s ridden to hell and back, warding off a grave dependence on heroin and booze to continue his journey of manufacturing marvelous blues music. So, what’s left to natter about concerning the fast-fingered blues legend?

Well, it’s been an exceptionally hot year in the 65-year-old’s wonderland. The two-disc The Johnny Winter Anthology, Johnny Winter Live Bootleg Series, Vol. 5, Johnny Winter: The Woodstock Experience, and the Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music Director’s Cut 40th anniversary DVD with never before seen live footage of Winter, were all released in 2009. And at the end of 2008 the DVD Live Through The 70′s was received very well and we can look forward to the upcoming biography, Raisin’ Cain: “The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter”, expected release around May of 2010, covering anything and everything throughout the guitarist’s entire career.

JamBase sat down with the Texas talent to discuss these recent events and also the nitty and gritty details that have made Old Man Winter the legendary bluesman he is today.

JamBase: It has been 40 years since you signed your first record contract with Columbia Records. Today, your new bootleg CD series, Volumes 1-5, have all charted top ten on the Billboard blues charts. How does it feel that after 40 years people are still listening, and, most importantly, purchasing your material?

Johnny Winter from MySpace

Johnny Winter: It feels great. I’m really pleased with how well my live series has been received. I had so much material from over the years and was very happy to find the right way to distribute it all. Also, it was great finding a label to release it as a series in such a way as it’s being presented.

JamBase: It’s also been 40 years since the original Woodstock festival. What were you able to take away from that experience, and what do you now cherish from it?

Johnny Winter: There is a saying that goes around stating that if you REALLY played Woodstock the memories are forever blurry. Let’s put it this way, I don’t remember a thing! At that time, to me, it was just another gig. But once I saw how it began developing I knew it was going to be a bigger and greater show than the 150,000 seaters we were already frequently playing. I knew then that this was something I had to be a part of. I played Jimi’s original offered time slot on Sunday at around 12:00 midnight. There was no rain and it was absolutely packed. I will tell you that it’s great that after all these years Warner released their Director’s Cut of the 40th anniversary Woodstock DVD. It finally features my performance of “Mean Town Blues.” Also, it’s wonderful that Sony released my whole audio performance [Johnny Winter: The Woodstock Experience]. I guess, like most who were there, I’ll always cherish the time spent and memories.

There is also a book pending publication on May 1, 2010 called Raisin’ Cain: “The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter”. Are you the writer and what will it cover?

I had a ghostwriter for this. The book covers my whole life, both private and professionally, my dealings with Janis Joplin, time on tour, musicians I’ve spent time playing with, my relationship with Muddy, I mean seriously, my whole life, all the ups and downs, everything! It was very emotional for me to read. The writer really nailed it. It’s right on.

You specialize in American blues and have become a legend amongst both historic musicians in the Delta regime and modern performers such as Eric Clapton and Jack White. Who were your inspirations and encouraging artists while you were steppin’ into the music world?

Johnny Winter

I’ve always loved the blues since I was a child. Listening to musicians like Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Jimmy Reed, Lightnin’ Slim, Gatemouth Brown, Elmore James, Chuck Berry, T-Bone Walker, and B.B. King all influenced my playing from the start. To me, the blues is such a strong musical style that I don’t feel it will ever go away. The blues adds to every musical style. That’s why it’s necessary to have a blues background in whatever style of music you play.

I’ve read that your parents pushed you and Edgar [Winter, Johnny's keyboard/sax playing younger brother] to participate in music. What did they casually play around the house? How else were they motivating to yourself and Edgar?

They didn’t exactly push us. We just really wanted to play music and they were very supportive. Daddy played sax and banjo in college. He taught me my first chords on a ukulele when I was young. Momma played piano. So, they were both very musical. Secretively, I think they really wanted me to be a lawyer [chuckle].

How is your current relationship with Edgar? Do you two still collaborate musically?

Our relationship is great! We’re good friends. We still do shows together from time to time. I just recorded on the song “Rockin’ the Blues” on his latest album, Rebel Road.

One of your first big breaks was when Mike Bloomfield invited you to sing and engage in the Super Session jam at the Fillmore East in New York. What was this experience like for you? Did you maintain a relationship with Mike Bloomfield?

Continue reading for more on Johnny Winter…

I am and forever will always be on the road.

-Johnny Winter

Photo by: Rod Snyder

It was a lot of fun. I don’t remember who the other musicians were other than Mike and Al [Kooper]. Like I said, my early introduction to the blues was through listening to Muddy Waters, and this was primarily one of the main reasons why I eventually made the trek to Chicago. I only stayed there for about a year, and that’s where I first met Mike Bloomfield at a club called The Fickle Pickle. I wasn’t too happy there in Chicago, so I soon went back to Texas. But yes, through meeting Mike it later led to him also helping to officially launch my career.

After that you signed what was then the largest advance in the history of the recording industry at Columbia Records, $600,000, did this unlock an overwhelming amount of musical opportunities for you?

Johnny Winter

Oh yes, for sure it was nonstop from there. Sadly, this also led to many of the problems I dealt with with drugs. I’m happy to say I’m all over with that now. The credit is all thanks to my other guitarist Paul Nelson. He is an amazing player and is the one who helped me guide my career back on track. It’s all good now and I feel great!

You are notorious for your cover of Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited.” Why this specific song and have you ever had the opportunity to play it with its creator?

I just simply liked the song and wanted to do a cover of it. I never actually played it with Dylan, but I did perform my rendition of “Highway 61 Revisited” at the Madison Square Garden party for him. Of course, he was there. There is a video of me playing it floating all around the Internet on YouTube and other such video sites.

Tell me a little bit about Muddy Waters, specifically, what he meant to you and how it felt to finally record with him? I mean, you got him a Grammy award. It must have been one hell of a solid relationship. [Editor's note: Johnny Winter produced a trio of brilliant Muddy albums - Hard Again (1977), I'm Ready (1978), and King Bee (1981), as well playing on Grammy winning live album Muddy "Mississippi" Waters - Live (1979)].

It was three to be exact. I produced and performed on four of his albums. Working with Muddy was the absolute high point of my career. Throughout that and after we became great friends. He was an excellent person and above that, an honest and real gentleman. He would always drink champagne; Dom Perignon was all he drank. He had a ton of class and a lot of true, real dignity. He’d been through a lot of ups and downs. I miss Muddy. If he were alive, we’d still be recording together.

You’re currently on tour. I heard through various media outlets that you are strictly playing the blues and no more R&R. Is this correct?

Warren Haynes & Johnny Winter by Dino Perrucci

Yes. I am and forever will always be on the road. Actually, my show is now more like 80-percent blues and the rest is rock & roll. I’ve been changing my set more and more so it’s different every time. But, as I said before, my true love is the blues.

Where do you enjoy playing most on tour?

Amsterdam is one of my favorites [winks].

In 1988 you were inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame among the all time legends in that genre. Is it comforting to know that your music was and will forever be respected as some of the all time best in blues?

Of course! It’s an extremely great and exciting honor. I’m at the point in my career where I love receiving awards [laughs].

Rolling Stone ranked you 74th on the list of all time greatest guitarist, which is a remarkable feat. Do you think this ranking is accurate?

To be absolutely honest, I haven’t talked to ONE person that has had anything good to say about that poll.

You grew up in Texas during a time of excessive racial tension. Was it difficult to go to the predominately black blues clubs at that time? Were establishments judging and/or rejecting your admittance?

Johnny Winter by Mick Rock

No, not at all. It was in an all black club in 1962 that my brother Edgar and I went to see B.B. King at a Beaumont club called The Raven. We were the only white guys in the crowd, and there was no doubt that we clearly stood out. I was about 17 and B.B. didn’t want to let me onstage at first. I kept asking and asking and asking. He asked me for a union card, and I had one. Also, I kept sending people over to ask him to let me play. Finally, he decided that there were enough people who wanted to hear me that no matter if I was good or not it would be worth it for him to let me onstage. He gave me his guitar and let me play. I got a standing ovation! After that, he took his guitar back [laughs].

Another Texas legend was the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan. How did you feel about his hard rock blues infiltrating the Austin city scene, as well as other Texas great such as Billy Gibbons [ZZ Top]?

Stevie was a great player as is Billy. They both have added so much in keeping the blues alive. Great guitarists, the two of ‘em.

Who was the most pleasurable artist that you’ve ever collaborated with live besides Muddy Waters?

Hmmm, I’d have to say John Lee Hooker and Sonny Terry. Sonny Terry and I did an album called Whoopin’ on my label, Mad Albino Records. It was a great moment that I will never forget.

What are your sentiments on modern music today?

I am not a fan of it that much at all. I enjoy listening to artists and music of the past, which helps me keep my current playing fresh. I have over 14,000 songs on my iPod. I do like some [contemporary artists], of course. Well, Derek Trucks for instance. He’s an absolutely great and skilled guitar player.

What should we expect from Johnny Winter in the near and far future?

More music, more shows, and more blues guitar.

Do you really plan to stay on the road forever?

Son, I’ll be playing the blues on the open road ’til the day I die.

Johnny Winter tour dates available here.

JamBase | Crossroads
Go See Live Music!

Jerry Garcia Band: Let It Rock

October 28th, 2009 | No Comments

JERRY GARCIA BAND WILL LET IT ROCK

Double-Disc Collection Includes Rare Early Performances Of The Group’s Original Lineup
Featuring Legendary Pianist Nicky Hopkins, Recorded Live In Berkeley, November 1975

For Jerry Garcia, 1975 was a seminal year that found him splitting time between recording Blues for Allah with the Dead, directing The Grateful Dead Movie, and forming the Jerry Garcia Band – his long-running side project. JGB’s earliest days are the subject of a two-disc live collection recorded during that momentous year. THE JERRY GARCIA COLLECTION, VOL. 2: LET IT ROCK, JERRY GARCIA BAND, NOVEMBER 17 & 18, 1975, KEYSTONE BERKELEY will be available November 10 from Jerry Garcia Family/Rhino at physical retail outlets and at www.dead.net for a suggested list price of $19.98.

The Jerry Garcia Band – Garcia, his constant collaborator bassist John Kahn and drummer Ron Tutt – played its first show with Nicky Hopkins on piano in August 1975. The ultimate session player, Hopkins’ credits include work with The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Jefferson Airplane to name a very few. While Hopkins residency was brief with the Jerry Garcia Band, it played an important role in the group’s shift away from big jams toward song-oriented material.

In addition to being a brilliant songwriter himself, Garcia had a great ear for other people’s songs and the new band provided him an opportunity to explore others’ works. LET IT ROCK includes covers of Chuck Berry (“Let It Rock”), Little Milton (“That’s What Love Will Make You Do”) and Jimmy Cliff (“Sitting In Limbo”). It also features performances of Allen Toussaint’s “I’ll Take A Melody” and Hank Ballard’s “Tore Up Over You,” songs that would surface a few months later on Garcia’s Reflections (1976). In addition to other artists’ songs, the band dips briefly into the Dead canon for “Friend Of The Devil” and Garcia’s 1972 solo debut for “Sugaree.” Three Hopkins originals are featured as well, “Pig’s Boogie,” “Lady Sleeps,” and the curiously titled “Edward, The Mad Shirt Grinder,” a song Hopkins first performed with Quicksilver Messenger Service.

While it is not strictly speaking a complete show, THE JERRY GARCIA COLLECTION, VOL. 2 is sequenced to approximate a two-set club gig, highlighting performances recorded November 17 and 18, 1975, during a pair of intimate gigs at Keystone Berkeley in front of a hometown crowd. The shows demonstrate that this lineup was capable of collective improvisation on the same level as the Grateful Dead, says David Gans, host of the Grateful Dead Hour. “Everybody could play melody or rhythm, or both, at any time, flying in and out of formation and always in intimate relation to what the others were playing,” he writes in the collection’s liner notes.

Track Listing

Disc One

Let It Rock
Tore Up Over You

Friend Of The Devil

They Love Each Other
It’s Too Late
Pig’s Boogie
Band Introductions
Sitting In Limbo
(I’m A) Road Runner

Disc 2

Sugaree
I’ll Take A Melody
That’s What Love Will Make You Do
Lady Sleeps
Ain’t No Use
Let’s Spend The Night Together
Edward, The Mad Shirt Grinder

Blue Cheer: Harder ‘n’ Louder Than The Rest

October 16th, 2009 | No Comments

By: Chris Pacifico

With the passing of Dickie Peterson earlier this week on October 12 after a long battle with liver cancer, we wanted to share this conversation with Peterson that took place in late 2006 as the band was firmly establishing a young, new audience. This interview has never been seen until now.

Blue Cheer

There are certain bands in the history of rock & roll that never got their proper due, yet remained pivotal in serving as the blueprint for a genre. Case in point, Blue Cheer. In the mid to early ’60s, this trio was just another pack of “crazy longhairs” that happened to form a band and go to San Francisco. Perhaps they weren’t wearing any flowers in their hair but Blue Cheer’s presence on the Haight-Ashbury scene was one louder than most of their musical peers.

Blue Cheer was amongst the first to turn their amps up to eleven. Bassist-vocalist Dickie Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens and drummer Paul Whaley blared out cumbersome guitar riffs with blizzards of raw, psychedelic voltage, bluesy hooks and quaking beats. Peterson, whose un-decibel friendly vocals and beefy bass was no less than lacerating, always saw himself as more of a “blues screamer” than a lead singer. They never quite morphed into a household name in part because they were a tad loud for some of the peace loving, tune in and drop out generation. Yet Blue Cheer managed to share the stage and local limelight with the who’s who of musicians in the Age of Aquarius.

In 1968 their debut album, Vincebus Eruptum, peaked at #11 on the Billboard, and their version of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” went to #14 on the singles chart.

Their sophomore LP, Outsideinside, was just as creatively fervid, but as the ’60s wound down Blue Cheer slipped through the cracks of much deserved recognition while still cutting albums, touring and enduring a revolving door of lineup changes well into the ’80s and ’90s. Yet, it was with their first two albums that Blue Cheer became unsung heroes, with many crediting the power trio for laying down the first brick in the towering house that became heavy metal.

Dickie Peterson 2007

Many a heavy band swears by them, which in past decades has solidified them as cult heroes. “I first heard Blue Cheer in 1981 while under the spell of hardcore,” recalls Mudhoney‘s Mark Arm. “I met this kid from the Bay Area while attending college in Oregon. He was one of about five folks at the school who was even slightly into punk rock. We were all hanging out in his dorm room and he puts Vincebus Eruptum on the turntable and says, ‘Check out what these crazy hippies did back in the ’60s.’ It nearly split my head in two. Hearing Blue Cheer at that point was almost as important to me as hearing The Stooges for the first time the year before. When Mudhoney started up, Blue Cheer was definitely part of our blueprint.”

“I have a more interesting relationship with Blue Cheer’s songs than I do most people I know,” explains “psychedevangelist”/ring leader/lead singer Eddie Gieda of An Albatross. “Their music, throughout their entire catalog, is a sonic epicenter of the prolific cultural revolution of the ’60s and ’70s West Coast. Their degree of separation between virtually all of the ’60s political, musical, philosophical, and cultural figures that I deem essential in forming our country’s history is unbelievably minute. These guys are the real fucking deal and to meet them is to know that their spirit, unlike their peers, hasn’t eroded. They’re still loud and still proud.”

Prior to Peterson’s passing, Blue Cheer continued to tour with two-thirds of their original lineup, with guitarist Andrew “Duck” MacDonald taking Stephens’ place, and crossing into the shattered eardrums of a new generation of fans who like it loud and lewd. Dickie Peterson spoke with JamBase about the band’s place in history, the upheaval of their youth, and how the Grateful Dead managed to piss them off.

JamBase: In the early days of Blue Cheer you guys started out as a regular young California band just aiming to head out to the Bay Area, right?

Dickie Peterson 2006

Dickie Peterson: Yeah, everybody was just moving to San Francisco because it was such a happening music scene that was wide open. It was a really rare event in the music world since all the rules were being tossed out the window and everything was accepted.

JamBase: How did you get the attention of PolyGram Records?

Dickie Peterson: Actually, Abe “Voco” Kesh, who was our producer had a bit to do with it. He had talked to several record companies and nobody wanted anything to do with us because we were so different than anything else that was going on. We went in and we did a demo, and we took it to KPIX radio and they got so many requests for it that the record companies couldn’t ignore us.

Any sort of music style or artists that really roused you or the members of Blue Cheer to pick up the instruments and start playing?

Blues. Jimmy Reed, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker. These were all big influences for me, and also Little Richard. Oh, and Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry. I had the unique honor of meeting both of them.

You took your name from a strand of Owsley Stanley’s acid, right?

Yes, that and also because of the strain of music that we gravitated toward was jump blues.

I’m sure you’re aware that over the years there have been many journalists, as well as fans, that credit Blue Cheer for paving the road for what is now heavy metal.

You know I can see where people are coming from but I can’t really say if we were the first heavy metal band or the first of anything because there were a lot of bands kind of in our realm around us, such as the MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges. I think we were the first American power trio. I guess if you listen to us you’ll find elements of heavy metal, elements of grunge, elements of punk, elements of the blues, and even elements of country. You’ll find all of these in our music.

Continue reading for more on Dickie Peterson and Blue Cheer…

We were aiming to become louder and more powerful than anybody else in the world. It wasn’t just limited to San Francisco.

-Dickie Peterson

Coming from the musical era of the ’60s in San Francisco, Blue Cheer’s music was obviously heavier and a whole lot louder than that of your civic counterparts of the time, such as Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, and the Grateful Dead. At the time, were you guys intent on becoming heavier and louder than those bands or was that what just came out naturally?

Blue Cheer

Well, we were aiming to become louder and more powerful than anybody else in the world. It wasn’t just limited to San Francisco.

Blue Cheer shared the stage with the likes of the Grateful Dead, Hendrix, and Santana. Any stories from those times that you’d like to share?

Well, I know that we always had a problem with the Grateful Dead because once they walked on the stage nobody else went on. They would go on for hours and I thought that this was really unprofessional, chicken shit bullshit because all of these bands, all of us needed our stage time and they would hog it. So, we started chasing their ladies around.

What was it like the first time that you saw Hendrix play?

This was a religious experience for me. I swear to God, that night at The Fillmore the man’s feet left the ground, and I think all of these guitar players today owe him no matter how many practical skills they’ve learned. Everything they do, Hendrix did first. There has not been another Hendrix type guitarist that’s come on the scene. Perhaps he’s being born now. I don’t know.

Any bands out there today that have caught your ear?

There are several bands but I don’t really follow too much contemporary music. You get in my car and you get a lot of rhythm & blues.

The turbulence of that era obviously played a big part in the creative process of a lot of bands in the ’60s. Would you say that was accurate as far as Blue Cheer was concerned?

Blue Cheer

Oh yes, it certainly did. I don’t know that it was so much a political thing with us as much as it was a social thing.

So, the overall loudness is what evoked a semblance of the upheaval?

Yeah, I think the whole social, Vietnam, and anti-establishment protests were all things that I think helped our band.

What was it like being in a band during an American cultural revolution?

It was a time I’m sure none of us will ever forget because we were living in Haight-Ashbury, which was wide open. The Hell’s Angels were basically the police department, LSD was legal [prior to October 1966], and the stuff that I miss very deeply was that everybody was everybody else’s keeper. Everybody took care of each other. If you didn’t have a place to sleep, somebody would take you home so you could sleep and they’d feed you.

A really deep community vibe, huh?

It was an alternative culture that was really working.

It must be a bummer to see Haight-Ashbury now since all that gentrification went down and with the McDonalds and the Gap up in there.

Dickie Peterson

Sort of, but there were so many people that were around at that time that I’m disappointed in personally. I think they’re traitors to the revolution. I think they dropped the ball. They went back to selling insurance and real estate at daddy’s office, which is what we were all against. We didn’t want that but in the end I would say that the one thing that brought that era down was hard drugs.

I always saw it as kind of a cliche when people point the finger at Altamont as the single catalyst of what made it all come falling down. It was no doubt a major turning point but there is just so much more that led up to it.

I think of it in a different way. I think critics and historians want to look back at that and cite that as a reason, and it’s kind of insane. If you look at concerts these days, you’ll be lucky to walk out of them alive at some of these places. At some of these big concerts people are being crushed; there is so much going on. With Altamont, a guy got killed there and it was the first time, and now this happens all the time.

How does it feel to be playing to a new generation of fans?

We’re so humbled by the fact that all these young people come out to our shows. Every night I can look down in front of my microphone and there’s somebody much younger than me who knows all the words to the songs. We’re very humbled by this, and it means more than I can actually put into words. I’m trying to figure out how to write a song about it. We not only crossed over to younger people but we bridged generation gaps. At any of our shows there are fathers and sons and daughters that come, and some people that say, “Hey man, I’ve been listening to your music since I was six hours old.” It’s humbling. It’s not anything that we tried to do, it just happened.

JamBase | Blue
Go See Live Music!

Sat Eye Candy: John Barlow

October 3rd, 2009 | No Comments

HAPPY 62nd TO ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF GRATEFUL DEAD MUSIC

Amongst a goodly portion of the Grateful Dead‘s fan base, the “Barlow-Weir” pairing is just as beloved as the more widely celebrated “Hunter-Garcia” duo. What’s so striking is just how different these two dyads prove in theory and practice, in many ways forming the poles of the Dead’s musical world. Where Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia excel at embracing and gently reshaping classic forms, John Perry Barlow and Bob Weir‘s work functions more like mad scientist jazz, bringing a playful fluidity into the rock sphere, a framework built upon bebop’s strong heads and interesting composed themes but also its tendency to springboard improvisation and instantaneous invention. As a lyricist, Barlow is clever, brainy even, but never in an off-putting way. His lyrics burrow into curious places, deliver us to lands previously unknown, or form a phalanx that pierces to the core of subjects like politics and love. His verses and spin on music have had an undying influence on multiple generations, being sung by literally millions across the planet, and like the best bards, his compositions retain their flavor and power still. Mr. Barlow turns 62 today and we couldn’t let the day pass without offering up a hearty, heartfelt toast to the man.

We begin with a tune with seemingly infinite possibilities, “The Music Never Stopped,” which has continued to mutate and spark with the Dead and countless others who’ve waded into it for decades.

This is perhaps the pinnacle of Caucasian reggae and the template for blue-eyed boys who dream of island rhythms everywhere.

“Estimated Prophet” (Pt. 2)

“Bringing me down/ I’m running aground/ Blind in the light of the interstate cars/ Passing me by/ The busses and semis/ Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars.” This is opening stanza of “Black Throated Wind,” one of THE great road songs of all time. Don’t resist the urge to raise your thumb and wonder where the white lines might lead you.

Barlow is equally famous, if not more so, as a champion of Internet independence and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He has worked extensively in the field since the Web first got rolling, and here is talking about the nature of the Internet, along with a few thoughts on songwriting, electronic voting, pornography and more. This is one seriously brilliant cat!

Anyone else find it kinda surreal that “Hell In A Bucket” is available for the Rock Band video game? Guess we need new ways to “enjoy the ride” all the way down. The footage from the Bill Graham Tribute concert is grainy but the performance is spot-on.

Since we’re in gloriously pissed off ’80s mode already let’s continue apace with “Throwing Stones.”

Continue reading for more Barlow-Weir sweetness…

Again, slightly dodgy video quality but a nifty glimpse into the past from the Grateful Dead’s legendary appearance on Tom Snyder’s Electic Kool-Aid Talk Show in 1981.

Remember when there weren’t a gazillion official video releases and you thrilled for crappy audience captured footage of the boys in their element? Now this is a guitar riff that’d give Chuck Berry wood!

“Let It Grow” is one seriously sophisticated piece of music, playful as Louis Armstrong but full of mythological, vernal imagery. This fan assembled version has some shaky camera work but a swell soundboard-audience sound mix.

Sometimes John ‘n’ Bob hit a groove that gives ol’ Merle Haggard a run for his money.

We wrap our salute to John Perry Barlow with one of the most stunning pairings in the Dead repertoire, “Lost Sailor” and “Saint of Circumstance,” with “Sailor” coming from Radio City Music Hall in 1980 and “Saint” from Giants Stadium in 1991. All we can say is, “Thanks so, so, so much for what you’ve done for music, John.”

AC/DC | 09.02 | San Jose

September 10th, 2009 | No Comments

Words by: Dennis Cook

AC/DC :: 09.02.09 :: HP Pavilion :: San Jose, CA

AC/DC

AC/DC is a genuinely bad influence. This thought occurred to me whilst violently pumping my fist in brute syncopation with most of the mob as we punctuated Brian Johnson‘s list of homicide techniques (concrete shoes, neckties, cyanide, high voltage) with shouts of “Done dirt cheap!” This is not the band mama would have wished for us. AC/DC actively beckons us into temptation, elevating lust, wildness and abandon to Herculean heights. They are one of the few bands today that retains the misbehaved, lusty character of rock’s progenitors, nearly as unruly and scary as young Ike Turner and Elvis Presley groping and fondling the music with unwholesome interest. Yet, this is 2009 not 1953 and what AC/DC’s San Jose performance revealed was this foundational kind of rock ‘n’ roll is also capable of grand scale refinement that’ll still pop your cork real good.

After 36 years, there are no accidents in the world of AC/DC. They are a well-oiled enterprise that puts on massive, thoroughly thought out mega-productions designed to get stadium audiences off. Powered by a catalog full of pleasure button singles, a tireless dedication to bare bones, blues-based hard rock and a dogged determination to please their fans, AC/DC and their crew get the job done and have done so for decades. Each tour is meticulously choreographed from the song selection to the lighting to the jaw-dropping set pieces, right down to the merch, which this round included flashing red devil horns with the group’s logo, an inspired move that created a creepy-cool amber glimmer when the house lights fell. In this hyper-organized way, AC/DC is very un-rock, nigh corporate even, but as executed, in the moment, it’s enormously successful at reaching one at a very primal level. Often only one’s lizard brain is operating during their shows, and it’s chattering all sorts of naughty things, too.

It’s easy to mistake what they do as “simple” or “dumb” (and plenty of critics do, vocally), but it’s nothing of the sort. Even this lifelong fan has sometimes dismissed recent offerings as lesser fare only to later discover the thought put into them with greater inspection. To wit, my too glib review of their latest album, Black Ice (2008), which I’ve since come to realize is one of their best in years, perhaps their single finest collection since 1983′s Flick of the Switch. That Black Ice forms the spine of the 2008-2009 setlist (which remains largely unchanged except for major festival appearances) actually proved a positive, showing connective tissue between what they’re creating today and the various chapters in their long history.

AC/DC by Bitey

Never one to schedule an opening act that might upstage them, AC/DC gave the first hour to fairly talented classic rock throwbacks The Answer. “We’re from Belfast, Ireland and our business with you tonight is rock ‘n’ roll.” A massive Led Zeppelin/Free fixation and a no-frills, ’70s street clothes fashion sense were the most noticeable elements in their basic but not unpleasant thud & strum, which seemed vaguely exciting at first but became an indistinguishable blur by set’s end. There’s no doubting their sincerity or eagerness to rock but I’m at a loss to pick out a single truly striking individual quality that sets them apart from the pack.

Buddy Guy’s “Five Long Years” played during the intermission before the headliners, tipping us off to the blues overtones to come. Besides being the standard bearers for three-chord, barking yob rock since the early ’70s, Australia’s AC/DC has also been a crucial popularizer of American blues music since their inception. As they’ve paved the road to Hades around the globe they’ve also helped spread the gospel of Guy, the various Kings and the heathen Chuck Berry. Part of their appeal is how they still seem on a mission to tell everyone about this crazy music that put the zap on their heads and shaped the entirety of their lives. And as zealots they are VERY convincing.

Angus Young – AC/DC by Adrian Buss

The start of any AC/DC concert is a spectacle, followed by multiple waves of shock and awe, culminating in beautifully gross displays that jackboot subtlety in rains of glitter and dizzying strobe blasts. This tour’s kickoff consists of a sharply drawn animated short which plays like Ralph Bakshi‘s interpretation of “Casey Jones,” with a demon Angus Young shoveling on coal until a pair of Heavy Metal slutty gals try to put the brakes on their “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train,” the opening cut of the set and Black Ice. With a crash-boom-bam, the evil wenches are thrown from the train but not in time to prevent a nearly full sized locomotive from jumping onto the stage. AC/DC does big well, and the train looming above drummer Phil Rudd, bassist Cliff Williams and rhythm guitarist/songwriter Malcolm Young fit in well with the two-story faux bronze statue of Angus, full size wrecking ball and other mighty oddities from previous tours. However, besides that central prop the huge stage was largely bare, a playground for Angus and Brian Johnson mostly while the other three huddled around the drum riser and simply put their shoulders into it for more than two hours.

Once unleashed they only picked up steam, lacing new tunes with a fine selection from their 15 studio albums. No, you won’t hear everything you’d like to, but some classics like “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Want To Rock ‘n’ Roll)” would be a touch disingenuous coming from a band selling out stadiums worldwide. They are really playing up the Devil stuff on this tour, so following “Train” with “Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be” worked, and it was zero surprise (though no less enjoyable) when “Hells Bells” and “Highway To Hell” arrived later. I’ve always felt the satanic stuff was primarily a way to get a rise out of sensitive types and churchies, who stereotypically preached through bullhorns out front before the show. It would be laughable if it weren’t so sad, and AC/DC seems fully cognizant of how their hellish flirtations affect people.

It’s true that they’re getting older, but Johnson is singing as well as ever, perhaps bolstered by his recent stints in London musical theatre, and though Angus is looking more and more like a deranged, balding Steven Wright, you’re made of different stuff than most of us inside the HP Pavilion if you didn’t lose your mind a little during his many six-string excursions, including his raised platform free-for-all solo spotlight during “Let There Be Rock.” At one point, Johnson observed, “I say the boy has the Devil in his fingers and the blues in his soul.” Well put, sir.

AC/DC by Matt Becker

What proved a real surprise was how strong the new cuts were live, even when sandwiched between guaranteed killers like “Back In Black” and “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” The band could just cough up the hits but the new material seems to mean something to them, and the conviction behind the performances of “War Machine,” “Big Jack,” “Black Ice” and even the pop-esque “Anything Goes” was very winning. It didn’t hurt their cause that they dug into deeper album tracks like “Dog Eat Dog” off Let There Be Rock (whose title cut provided a “gospel according to AC/DC” super self-indulgent yet ridiculously satisfying close to the main set) and “Shot Down In Flames” off Highway To Hell. It was hard to fault their selections as one rode their wave, enjoying the girlies jiggling what mama gave them on the Jumbotron to “The Jack” or “You Shook Me All Night Long.” And the grotesque inflatable, torn fishnet clad balloon woman that rode their train during “Whole Lotta Rosie” seemed like just the thing at just the right moment – a feeling that pretty much permeated this entire night. Screaming “Oi!” at maximum volume during “TNT” or raising a salute during the finale of “For Those About To Rock,” one felt part of a beer stoked, none-too-pretty tribe, which would probably run amuck if the band so ordered.

As it was, everything stayed pretty tame, a splendid bit of hooligan foreplay with no disastrous consequences. This was my tenth time seeing them live, and it remains an intrinsic joy to have them shove their forked tongue in my ear. Playing at “bad” is the most the majority of us will ever do, despite the passing urge we may feel to put out a contract on our boss or ex-lover. AC/DC helps us process these dark but utterly human feelings and thoughts. In staying on the road, in staying true to their core principles, in treating traditionally non-serious things with seriousness and care, AC/DC has endured, thrived and continued to aid multiple generations in connecting with the original rebellious meaning of rockin’ and rollin’.

Walking back to my car I caught sight of the small army of idling semis and black clad roadies waiting to take the show to the next town. Society will always need rabble-rousers of this sort to keep us in touch with all the dirty, dirty things men think and feel, the devil you know and all that. And it may be that Satan gets the lion’s share of the credit but AC/DC is really doing God’s work.

AC/DC :: 09.02.09 :: HP Pavilion :: San Jose, CA

Rock ‘n’ Roll Train, Hell Ain’t a Bad Place To Be, Back In Black, Big Jack,
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Shot Down in Flames, Thunderstruck, Black Ice, The Jack, Hells Bells, Shoot to Thrill, War Machine, Dog Eat Dog, Anything Goes, You Shook Me All Night Long, TNT, Whole Lotta Rosie, Let There Be Rock

Encore: Highway To Hell, For Those About To Rock

AC/DC return to the States on October 1 in Phoenix, AZ; complete tour dates available here.

JamBase | Damned Happy
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Levon Helm: PBS Ramble

July 29th, 2009 | No Comments

Levon Helm – Ramble At The Ryman PBS Special To Air August 2009

Levon Helm

On most Saturday nights since January 2004, Levon Helm has hosted evenings of music at the “barn,” his home studio in Woodstock, New York. These magical nights are called The Midnight Ramble Sessions. On September 17, 2008, Helm took the Midnight Ramble on the road to one of America’s treasured venues, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, where Â— accompanied by such luminaries as Buddy Miller, John Hiatt, Sheryl Crow and Sam Bush Â— the Levon Helm Band gave birth to a night of stage magic. Captured in pristine high definition Levon Helm – Ramble at the Ryman is part of special programming airing on PBS in August 2009.

The performance is a veritable tour through the American songbook, featuring tunes from Helm’s tenure with The Band, as well as selections from the 2008 Grammy winning Dirt Farmer and classics from artists such as Chuck Berry, The Carter Family and more.

For a preview of Ramble at the Ryman check this out:

Levon Helm: Ramble at the Ryman includes:

Â· Ophelia
Â· Back to Memphis
Â· Fannie Mae
Â· Baby Scratch My Back

Â· Evangeline

Â· No Depression in Heaven
Â· Wide River to Cross

Â· Deep Elem Blues

Â· Rag Mama Rag

Â· Time Out for the Blues

Â· The Shape I’m In

Â· The Weight