Band Of Skulls’ “Be Mine” takes the loud/soft dynamic to a new level.
The soft section is really beautiful, but in it’s own way so is the loud.
The song will be a bonus track when the group’s new album Himalayan is downloaded via iTunes. It’s produced by Nick Launay (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and will be released March 2014.
Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/band-of-skulls/74604#3McwYumVmkm3Ooto.99
-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-
Now out is a four-song 1983 Flaming Lips recording called 2nd Cassette Demo. Available currently now on limited-edition 7″ blue vinyl, signed by Wayne Coyne.
Listen to all four 1983 tracks and hear the band out when it was a bit rawer.
These recordings are terrific.
A side, “The Flaming Lips Theme Song 1983” and “The Future Is Gone,” September 4, 1983:
B side, “Real Fast Words” and “Underground Pharmacist,” September 4, 1983:
-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-
I was thinking about Nelson Mandela today as I listened to Bob Dylan’s version of “He Was A Friend Of Mine.”
I first heard that song as recorded by The Byrds for their second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!. Roger McGuinn modified the lyrics to make the song about the late President Kennedy and I’ve always associated the song with President Kennedy’s assassination.
When I eventually heard Dylan’s version on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 many years later I couldn’t help thinking of President Kennedy, and his tragic death.
Dylan had himself had modified the song, creating his own arrangement. The earliest known version of “He Was A Friend Of Mine” was a song called “Shorty George” recorded by Leadbelly (listen to it below) in 1935 for the Library of Congress, according to John Bauldie’s liner notes for The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3.
A Boston folk singer, Eric von Schmidt, adapted the Leadbelly recording and later played the song for Dylan who incorporated it into his repertoire and performed in around New York and elsewhere during the early ’60s.
“I sang [Dylan] a bunch of songs, and, with that spongelike mind of his, he remembered almost all of them when he got back to New York,” von Schmidt told The Boston Globe.
Dylan recorded a version of the song during the sessions for his debut, Bob Dylan. That version is the one on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3.
Unlike President Kennedy, Nelson Mandela wasn’t gunned down. He died of natural causes and he was 95. But he suffered much during his life in holding true to his values. He was a standup man if there ever was one.
In 1985 Dylan appeared on Steve Van Zandt’s all-star anti-apartheid record and in the video, “I Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City.”
I wonder if Dylan thought about “He Was A Friend Of Mine” following Mandela’s death. I bet he did.
Bob Dylan, “He Was A Friend Of Mine,” live, New York, 1961
.
Leadbelly, “Shorty George”:
Bob Dylan, “He Was A Friend Of Mine,” from the sessions for Bob Dylan, November 20, 1961:
Bob Dylan, “He Was A Friend Of Mine,” live, Finjan Club, Montreal, Quebec, July 2, 1962
The Byrds, “He Was A Friend Of Mine”:
Artists Against Apartheid, “I Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City”:
Dave Van Ronk also recorded “He Was A Friend Of Mine.” This is from Inside Dave Van Ronk, 1963.
-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-
A live recording of the Talking Heads performing a previously unreleased instrumental has surfaced.
The song, “Theme,” was played during the first of Talking Head’s two sets opening for Television at CBGB’s, July 30, 1976, according to the fan site Talking-Heads.nl.
Thirty-nine years ago, on December 27, 1974, Bob Dylan entered Sound 80 Studios in Minneapolis and re-recorded two songs he’d previously recorded in New York for a new album he was working on. Those new versions of “Idiot Wind” and “You’re Big Girl Now” are the ones that ended up on Blood On The Tracks.
I remember when I first listened to Blood On The Tracks when it was released in late January, 1975. The song that immediately blew me away was “Idiot Wind.” I thought at the time that Dylan had finally written a kind of followup to “Like A Rolling Stone” due to the bitterness in his voice and the bite of the chorus:
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth
Blowing down the backroads headin’ south
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth
You’re an idiot, babe
It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe
The Blood On The Tracks sessions began at Columbia A&R Studios in New York on September 16, 1974. That studio was where he’d recorded his first six albums including Highway 61 Revisited. Dylan recorded in New York off and on, wrapping up on September 25, 1974. A test pressing of the album was made and Dylan planned to release that version of the album, which has been circulating as a bootleg ever since.
However Dylan changed his mind after playing the test pressing for his brother David who, according to Clinton Heylin, suggested Dylan recut the album in Minneapolis with local musicians.
“I had the acetate,” Dylan said years later. “I hadn’t listened to it for a couple of months. The record still hadn’t come out, and I put it on. I just didn’t… I thought the songs could have sounded differently, better. So I went in and re-recorded them.”
Two sessions took place — one on December 27 and a final session on December 30. Five songs recut during those sessions made it onto the album, and, of course, there has been disagreement for nearly 39 years now as to whether Dylan should have stuck with the New York tracks, or gone with the mix of New York and Minneapolis tracks as he did.
Dylan said to a radio interviewer who told him she enjoyed Blood On The Tracks:
“A lot of people tell me they enjoyed that album. It’s hard for me to relate to people enjoying that kind of pain.”
Below you can hear the versions of “Idiot Wind” and “You’re A Big Girl Now” that made it onto the album. I’ve also included versions that didn’t. Plus a couple of live versions.
“Idiot Wind,” Sound 80, Minneapolis, Minnesota, December 27, 2013:
“You’re A Big Girl Now,” Sound 80, Minneapolis, Minnesota, December 27, 2013:
“Idiot Wind,” New York sessions outtake:
“Idiot Wind,” outtake — stripped down acoustic version:
“Idiot Wind,” live New Orleans May 3, 1976:
“You’re A Big Girl Now,” New York outtake, Sept. 23, 1974:
“You’re A Big Girl Now,” Jones Beach, Wantaugh, NY June 30, 1988
Plus “Up To Me,” a track recorded in New York that didn’t make the album:
Bob Dylan will play 14 shows in Japan beginning March 31, 2014, according to Japan Concert Tickets. Dylan last played Japan in 2010.
Direct from the ticket website:
Bob Dylan 14-date Japan Spring Tour 2014 Announced
The Japanese audiences are getting their fair oldies share of “oldies but goodies” in 2014: Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, Toto…and now Bob Dylan!
And Dylan must like Japan, as he is going to stay in Japan for around a month, playing 14 club shows.
2014.03.31 – Tokyo Zepp DiverCity
2014.04.01 – Tokyo Zepp DiverCity
2014.04.03 – Tokyo Zepp DiverCity
2014.04.04 – Tokyo Zepp DiverCity
2014.04.07 – Tokyo Zepp DiverCity
2014.04.08 – Tokyo Zepp DiverCity
2014.04.13 – Zepp Sapporo (Hokkaido)
2014.04.14 – Zepp Sapporo (Hokkaido)
2014.04.17 – Zepp Nagoya
2014.04.18 – Zepp Nagoya
2014.04.17 – Zepp Fukuoka (for your informarion, it’s pronounced “foo-quo-ca“)
On Christmas day Iggy Pop will DJ on the BBC’s Radio 6 from one until three pm — be sure to take into consideration the time zone you’re in and the time zone London is in.
BBC Radio 6 Music will be truly rocking around the Christmas tree this year with ‘godfather of punk’ Iggy Pop presenting two programmes, a very special interview with Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, plus Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of legendary band The Clash presenting their own show.
Iggy Pop turns radio DJ to present two special programmes – the first on Christmas Day (1-3pm), the second on New Year’s Day (1-3pm). Iggy’s musical legacy has inspired and energised rock and roll’s alternative spirit since the late Sixties and his bare chested stage antics have marked him as a truly iconic frontman.
Iggy Pop’s Radio Show will offer 6 Music listeners an exclusive insight into the mind of one of the most influential rock stars of the last 40 years. In the first show he’ll explore the theme of Rockin’ Rebels, and Heartbreak and Heartaches in the second.
Iggy Pop said: “To come up with the tunes that fit the concept of each show, I’ve had to dig back to things that I haven’t heard in a long, long time, but that still carry memories of joy and compulsion. I thought I better check these old numbers to see if they still made the grade for me. They still do.”
He continues: “I was a little worried that the listening might feel ragged for the kind of people who can’t embrace Duane Eddy and, say, The Last Poets in the same hour with Doc Watson. Well, that’s too damn bad. I’ve listened to all this music for the shows and it all flows for me. I hope to reach out and touch you.”
In The First Time With Lars Ulrich (Christmas Day, 3-4pm), presenter Matt Everitt asks Metallica’s drummer about his musical firsts. Metallica are without doubt one of the biggest heavy rock bands in the world, with a staggering 100 million albums sold. Here, in a rare and characteristically articulate interview, he discusses his childhood in his native Denmark, the early days of Metallica through to the arena gigs, his music passions from Ennio Morricone to the Arctic Monkeys, and his friendship with Noel Gallagher.
They roused a generation with their rebel rock, and this Christmas Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash present a two-hour special for 6 Music. This Is Radio Clash will air on Boxing Day (1-3pm). The Clash formed in the vanguard of British punk and went on to become a symbol of intelligent protest and stylish rebellion in the turbulent years of the late Seventies and early Eighties. They were unflinching musical pioneers, integrating first militant reggae, then dub, funk, jazz and hip-hop into their sound, leaving behind an extraordinary recorded legacy. Jones and Simonon will be sharing their experiences of that time, lifting the lid on the stories behind the music.
Paul Rodgers, Head of Programmes for 6 Music, said: “Iggy Pop, Paul Simonon, Mick Jones and Lars Ulrich are fascinating characters and have recorded some great shows, with a wide range of eclectic and exciting music choices which could only be heard on a station like Radio 6 Music, and we hope they will delight our listeners over the festive period.”
In case you missed it, Iggy’s Christmas greeting:
And one of my fave Iggy tracks, “I’m Bored”:
-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-
Back in 2000, when I was publishing the daily music blog prototype, Insiderone.net (which soon became Neumu.net), for Christmas I wrote this essay about John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Christmas classic, “Merry Xmas (War Is Over).” In reading it over the other day — I’m putting together a collection of my music writing and have been reviewing what I’ve written these past 30-plus years — it struck me as appropriate to reprint this year. I hope you enjoy it.
“So this is Christmas/ And what have you done/ Another year over/ A new one just begun.”
So begins John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” one of the great rock ‘n’ roll Christmas songs. Recorded and released in 1971, it was co-produced by John and Yoko and the legendary producer Phil Spector. (The other rock Christmas song that really means something to me is “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” produced by Spector in 1963 for his Christmas album, A Christmas Gift for You.)
When I was a kid, John Lennon was one of my idols; I always thought he was the coolest Beatle. When he paired up with the avant-garde artist Yoko Ono, I was one Beatle fan who thought it was a great move, and not just because he had found a soul mate.
Yoko opened John’s eyes to experimental art, and she also seemed to help him become conscious of social and political issues. And while his most political album, Some Time in New York City, is also mostly a failure, Ono’s positive influence was evident on both Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, as well as such singles as “Instant Karma.”
I thought John and Yoko’s bed-in for peace was awesome, an over-the-top, outrageous stunt — the perfect way for rock royalty to make a statement.
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” is a wonderful, heartfelt song set to a great sing-along melody, and more. That first line challenges the listener. John and Yoko are saying, in essence, “OK, year’s over, what did you do? Contribute anything worthwhile to the world?” Then they follow with “…And so this is Christmas/ I hope you have fun/ The near and the dear ones/ The old and the young.”
So you take stock of the year that has passed, but then you celebrate. The song, which weds classic Spector wall-of-sound production to a great Lennon lead vocal, offers hope for a new beginning in the chorus: “A very merry Xmas/ And a happy New Year/ Let’s hope it’s a good one/ Without any fear.”
According to Yoko, the song was written over breakfast one morning in a New York hotel room; it was recorded during the evening and morning of Oct. 28–29, 1971 at the Record Plant in New York.
In his book, “Out of His Head,” Richard Williams described the session: “Spector is already into the groove. He is thinking not just of sound, but of arrangement and drama — production. His weird little head is taking the simple guitar chords and modeling, blending, and transforming them — his old pattern. Well ahead of everyone, even Lennon, he imagines the sound coming out of a million, two-inch transistor speakers.”
The second verse of “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” finds John reaching out to all the peoples of the world: “And so this is Christmas/ For weak and for strong/ The rich and the poor ones/ The road is so long/ And so happy Xmas/ For black and for white/ For yellow and red ones/ Let’s stop all the fight.”
I don’t think it’s just because I grew up listening to the Beatles that John’s voice moves me so intensely. The current success of an album of old Beatles hits seems to prove that those records are timeless, and that they can touch a kid now in the same way that they touched me, back in the ’60s and early ’70s.
John and Yoko’s Christmas song ends with a wish for peace: “War is over/ If you want it,” they sing. “War is over, now/ Happy Xmas.”
Happy Xmas indeed!
-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-
