August 1 marks what would have been Jerry Garcia‘s 75th birthday. And not surprisingly there are a number of events happening today, and this month, that salute him.
Rhino announced today that, in November, a six-disc box-set of the Dead’s July 12-13 RFK shows will be coming out (pre-orders are available now on dead.net). Hornsby also stuck around for the second night and joined the Dead for “Tennessee Jed” and “Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again.” July 13’s concert also offers an early performance of Brent Mydland‘s “I Will Take You Home,” which later appeared on Built To Last. The two previously unreleased shows come from the band’s master 24-track analog recordings that have been mixed and mastered. The July 13 concert features the group doing
Special concerts will have happening across the country throughout the week, with the 15th Annual Jerry Day occurring Aug. 6 at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre in San Francisco’s McLaren Park; the show’s bill includes Melvin Seals and the JGB, Stu Allen & Mars Hotel and Midnight North.
From Aug. 1-9 it will be Jerry Week on SiriusXM’s The Grateful Dead Channel, featuring archival interviews, rare concerts and other special goodies like a re-airing of the 2017 Red Rocks 75th Birthday Concert and the 2016 Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration. If you have AXS TV, you can view the latter concert on Aug. 5 at 9pm EST. Pandora, meanwhile, has created its own Jerry Garcia channel, showcasing music from throughout his career. You can access the channel at http://pdora.co/jerry75/.
And you can also chill out at home and enjoy some Cherry Garcia while listening to Round Records/ATO Records’ recently released GarciaLive Volume Nine: August 11, 1974 – Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders 2-CD set.
The Replacements have been on my mind that last week. I’m not sure why. The other night I was listening to some of their music on-line, and then I receive word that Rhino is releasing a new live CD of the Replacements performing at Maxwell’s in February, 1986.
Coming out Oct. 6 as a double CD and double LP, the succinctly entitled For Sale: Live At Maxwell’s 1986 will have 29 tracks that cover the bands’ career up until them, like “I Will Dare,” “Bastards of Young,” “Left of the Dial,” “Waitress in the Sky,” and “Answering Machine.” The band, always good for doing some fun covers, performed “Fox on the Run” and “Nowhere Man” that night. See full set list below.
For Sale is the first live Replacements recording to come out officially on CD or LP. But what about The Sh*t Hits The Fans? That notorious live album was only available on cassette.
The Maxwell’s show, which took place shortly after the band’s infamous SNL appearance, features the original lineup of Paul Westerberg, Chris Mars, and both Stinson brothers (Tommy and Bob). It was recorded by a 24-track mobile studio and the tapes have been in the Warner Brothers vaults since then (and have been given a proper mix for this release). For Sale also include new liner notes by Bob Mehr, author of the New York Times bestseller Trouble Boys: The True Story Of The Replacements, as well as never-before-seen photos from the Maxwell’s show by noted music writer and photographer Caryn Rose.
Brian Wilson turned 75 earlier this week, and to salute this milestone, Rhino announced the upcoming release of the first ever retrospective covering Wilson’s solo career. Due Sept. 22, Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology contains 18 tracks, ranging from such well-known Wilson compositions as “Heroes and Villains,” “Love and Mercy” and “Surf’s Up” to two new previously unreleased tunes: “Some Sweet Day” (which he wrote with Andy Paley in the early 1990s for an unfinished recording project) and “Run James Run” (a new song Wilson wrote and recorded just for this collection). This year Wilson also celebrating the 50th anniversary of Pet Sounds, with a tour that is currently scheduled to last through October.
2017 would have also been Jerry Garcia’s 75th birthday. On July 28, Round Records/ATO Records will put out GarciaLive Volume Nine: August 11, 1974 – Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders. Recorded at Berkeley’s fabled Keystone club, the double CD captures the band (which included Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann) performing a nine-song set that offers renditions of “(I’m A) Road Runner,” “Mystery Train,” The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” and “The Harder They Come.”
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Doors’ first #1 single “Light My Fire,” Rhino is releasing a limited edition (7,500 copies) single that replicates the Japanese 45. “Light My Fire,” obviously is the A-side, with the album version of “Crystal Ships” on the flipside. A little Doors’ trivia, “Light My Fire” was the first song that Robbie Krieger ever wrote. Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention’sAbsolutely Free was another important 1967 release. Zappa Records/UMe is putting out a special expanded vinyl-exclusive edition (due Sept. 29) with the second LP featuring vintage remixes and radio ads on one side one and a laser etching of Zappa’s visage from the album cover on the other.
1967 also was the year that Laura Nyro released her first album, More Than a New Discovery. This Verve Folkways album preceded her breakout Columbia debut Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. In July, Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are presenting A Little Magic, A Little Kindness: The Complete Mono Albums Collection, which contains Discovery’s restores the original album sequence and mono mix. The 2-CD set holds the album’s future hits as “Wedding Bells Blues,” “Stoney End” and “And When I Die,” along with some bonus material too. Nyro is a criminally overlooked singer/songwriter who deserves a rediscovery (no pun intended). Here is her version of “And When I Die.” When I was a kid, I had the Blood, Sweat & Tears’ album with this tune on it, but you got to hear her version (and realize that she wrote this when she was a teenager!)
Real Gone Music’s July selections also include Dusty Springfield’s The Complete Philadelphia Sessions – A Brand New Me (Expanded Edition), which collects all of the material she recorded in 1969-70 in mainly with Gamble-Huff Productions for Atlantic Records. The label is also releasing a compilation of tracks from Loma Records, which was Warner Brothers’ Soul and R&B label from 1964-68. The Complete Loma Singles: Vol. 1 is the first of four 2- CD collections Real Gone has planned.
Arthur Alexander is a legendary songwriter, best known for penning tunes like “Soldier of Love,” “You Better Move On,” and “Anna” that others took to the charts. Alexander, however, didn’t achieve great success with his own albums. In fact, he only put out three full length albums. Happily, Omnivore has resurrected Alexander’s second album – this 1972 self-titled record that he did in Muscle Shoals for Warner Brothers. The 12-song album holds his version of “Burning Love,” which Elvis Presley later turned into a smash hit. The reissue, with contains the original liner notes penned by Barry Hansen (aka Dr. Demento), has been bolstered with six bonus tracks (including a couple of previously unreleased songs). Here’s Omnivore’s introductory video for this CD.
Studio One, Yep Roc and Discogs have teamed up to get back into circulation the 1971 debut album from the influential (although not particularly well-known) reggae star Freddie McKay. Picture on the Wall: Deluxe Edition holds 24 tracks – many have never been on CD – combining the album’s original tracks with alternate versions, rarities, and extended mixes.
45 years ago, the Raspberries put out their first two albums, the self-titled debut and Fresh, which featured some of the finest power pop tunes ever (and as a native Clevelander, I have no biases, of course). Songs like “I Wanna Be With You,” “Let’s Pretend,” “Don’t Want To Say Goodbye,” and “Go All The Way” also number among the 28 tracks on the upcoming double-disc Pop Art Live. This live recording of the band’s 2004 hometown reunion show feature the original four members performing together for the first time in over 30 years. Pop Art Live is due Aug. 18 on Omnivore Recordings. Here is them doing “Go All The Way” from that concert. Eric Carmen is in fine form.
It is only the 44th anniversary of the Who’s Quadrophenia album but Pete Townshend is doing a short but sweet tour of it in September. He’ll be performing it outside of Boston at Tanglewood, at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House and L.A.’s Greek Theatre. The shows will feature Billy Idol and opera singer Alfie Boe as well as orchestral accompaniment. A portion of the proceeds from the L.A. concert will support the charity Teen Cancer America.
The Ramones’ sophomore outing Leave Home is turning 40, and Rhino has put together a super deluxe version that has been overseen by its original engineer/mixer Ed Stasium. This 3-CD set has one disc filled with the original album (with two Stasium mixes), one disc with 18 rare tracks and one disc is a previously unreleased recording of the band’s April 2, 1977 show at CBGB’s.
In the early ‘80s, the acclaimed documentarian Robert Mugge filmed Al Green who was then performing gospel music after denouncing pop and soul as the music of the Devil. The resulting film, the highly praised Gospel According To Al Green, offers a fascinating look at the mercurial musician. MVDB will release this DVD on July 7, with additional material including a new 17-minute video that Mugge has made about this documentary. Here’s the trailer for the film.
PIAS have brought back into circulation a couple more “recent” titles – the first two albums from the Australian band The Triffids. Treeless Plain and In The Pines offer a great look at this band that are a key player in the wonderful Australian/New Zealand indie rock scene of the ‘80s. Both reissues are bulked up with bonus material.
Today, June 1, is the last day to place your order for Run Out Groove‘s Live At Raji’s by the Dream Syndicate. This is version offers the complete show on vinyl for the first time, including the vinyl debut for the tracks “See That My Grave is Kept Clean,” “When You Smile,” “All Along the Watchtower,” and “Tell Me When It’s Over.”
One of the leading bands in the ’80s so-called Paisley Underground scene, Dream Syndicate whipped up wild, wordy psychedelic storms that melded Crazy Horse with the Velvet Underground, if you want to pick touchstones. The L.A. band made a dingy basement Hollywood club Raji’s its home base. This recording captured them in all of their live glory from a show they did on on January 31, 1988, around the time they released Ghost Stories.
This double LP will come out on 180g, multi-color vinyl with brand new artwork, never before seen photos and liner notes. Run Out Groove is a relatively new, fan-fueled label that is releasing limited edition vinyl mined from the Warner Brothers vaults. Learn more at http://www.runoutgroovevinyl.com.
It has been a great time for Dream Syndicate fans because the band has recently signed with Anti- Records so there should be new music coming from the band at some point in the future. The latest Dream Syndicate incarnation features original guitarist/singer/songwriter Steve Wynn and drummer Dennis Duck along with longtime Syndicate bassist Mark Walton and new guitarist Jason Victor, who has been playing in Wynn’s band of late.
This Dream Syndicate developments ties with earlier news that now-released compilation of solo work from Russ Tolman (True West) as well as new material being worked by SoCal cowpunk pioneers The Long Ryders.
Yesterday, the Americana Music Association announced its nominees for the 16th annual Honors & Awards Show. It might sound like a cliche but each category is packed with greatness. Sturgill Simpson notched the most nominations with three: Album of the Year, Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for “All Around You.” The only other multi-nominees are Rodney Crowell, Drive-By Truckers and Lori McKenna, which again shows just how much amazing Americana music was made in the last year.
The Americana Honors and Awards Show will take place on September 13 at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium during this year’s Americanafest (Sept. 12-17). You can find out more at www.americanamusic.org
Here is the complete list of nominees, with the recipients of the special honors to be announced later.
Album of the Year:
American Band, Drive-By Truckers, Produced by David Barbe
Close Ties, Rodney Crowell, Produced by Kim Buie and Jordan Lehning
Freedom Highway, Rhiannon Giddens, Produced David Bither, Rhiannon Giddens and Dirk Powell
The Navigator, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Produced by Paul Butler
A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, Sturgill Simpson, Produced by Sturgill Simpson
Artist of the Year:
Jason Isbell
John Prine
Lori McKenna
Margo Price
Sturgill Simpson
Duo/Group of the Year:
Billy Bragg & Joe Henry
Drive-By Truckers
Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives
The Lumineers
Emerging Artist of the Year:
Aaron Lee Tasjan
Amanda Shires
Brent Cobb
Sam Outlaw
Song of the Year:
“All Around You,” Sturgill Simpson, Written by Sturgill Simpson
“It Ain’t Over Yet,” Rodney Crowell (feat. Rosanne Cash & John Paul White), Written by Rodney Crowell
“To Be Without You,” Ryan Adams, Written by Ryan Adams
“Wreck You,” Lori McKenna, Written by Lori McKenna and Felix McTeigue
A couple of old favorites have new, or upcoming, releases, that I wanted to share.
The Long Ryders were one of the first of the 80s alt.country rock outfit. The SoCal-bred band last year unveiled a comprehensive 4-CD retrospective, Final Wild Songs, on Cherry Red Records. This month, they have released their new song in 30 years, “Bear In The Woods.”
You can give a listen here:
The band, featuring its classic lineup (guitarist Sid Griffin, guitarist Stephen McCarthy, drummer Greg Sowders and bassist Tom Stevens, will be performing this weekend at the Stagecoach Festival, with tune-up gigs at Santa Ana’s Constellation Room (4/28) and L.A.’s Roxy (4/29). Hopefully, there will be more new music to come.
True West was part California Paisley Underground scene that overlapped some with the country rockers. Russ Tolman helped to co-found the band before to do a string of solo albums from the mid-80s through 2000, collaborating with the likes of Steve Wynn, Johnette Napolitano and Howe Gelb. On May 26, you can find a retrospective of his solo career on Lost Records’ Compass & Map. This 20-song set offers a fine look at Tolman’s spiky observational songwriting and fiery music that deserves more recognition. “Hollywood Holiday” is one track found on this collection.
Heading over to the East Coast, we turn to Glenn Morrow. If you are a fan of the Hoboken music scene, you know his name from bands like the Individuals, “a” and Rage To Live. Morrow also is the band behind the great Bar/None Records. After something of a musical hiatus, he is back with Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help. A self-titled album is due out June 23, but a listen to “Comfort Zone” gives you a sense of the smart tunes you’ll be hearing on it. Helping out Morrow on Cry For Help are guitarist Ric Sherman, bassist Mike Rosenberg and drummer Ron Metz (who has laid down the beat for bands like the Schramms and Human Switchboard).
Fans of this ’80s college rock universe should also note that Matthew Sweet has a big new album on the way. And by “big,” I mean a 17-track double CD. Look for Tomorrow Forever June 16 on his own Honeycomb Hideout label.
1967 was a huge year in rock music. It basically started with the Doors’ debut album and ended with Magical Mystery Tour. It is hard to keep up with all the anniversaries, but here are some recent new items.
The UPDATED part: I won’t make you scroll all the way down to where this update would logically go, but I found out today that the Grammy Museum is opening an exhibit on the Monterey Pop Festival on May 11. Entitled “Monterey International Pop Festival: Music, Love, and Flowers, 1967,” it has been organized in collaboration with Lou Adler, who co-founded the festival. Running through the fall, the show will display a bunch of groovy artifacts from Adler’s private collection as well as from the Monterey International Pop Festival Foundation. On display will be items relating to such festival performers as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, theGrateful Dead and Ravi Shankar, along with photographs from acclaimed photographers as Henry Diltz, Tom O’Neil, Elaine Mayes, and Ed Caraeff. If you go in the exhibit’s opening days, you can also catch the Jim Marshall photo exhibit, which closes May 14 (see more below).
Monterey Pop took place in June 16-18. This year, the 50th anniversary will be marked with a new Monterey Pop Festival taking place over the same three days. The 2017 edition will feature another awesome, eclectic bill. Eric Burdon & the Animals, Booker T. Stax Revue and Phil Lesh and the Terrapin Family Band represent acts from the original lineup (Otis Redding and the Grateful Dead in the case of the latter two band).
Other noted performers scheduled to appear include Gary Clark Jr., Jim James, Father John Misty, Jack Johnson, Dr. Dog, Norah Jones, North Mississippi Allstars, The Head and the Heart, Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Hiss Golden Messenger, Jackie Greene, Jamtown (featuring Cisco Adler, Donovan Frankenreiter and G. Love), Kurt Vile & the Violators, Langhorne Slim & The Law, Leon Bridges, Nicki Bluhm and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Regina Spektor and Sara Watkins. I would assume there will be some more to come.
There will also a new CD commemorating the anniversary. Iconic Performances From The Monterey International Pop Festival holds 13 historic tracks from the concert. Put together by the Monterey International Pop Foundation, the album (due June 9) also includes a new essay by NME journalist (and festival attendee) Keith Altham, 16-page booklet, a reproduction of the original festival artist pass, and a gold-foil package to mark the 50th anniversary of the festival.
Track Listing
Buffalo Springfield – “For What It’s Worth”
Paul Butterfield – “Driftin Blue
The Grateful Dead – “Out In the Cold, Rain and Snow”
Simon and Garfunkel – “Sounds of Silence”
Laura Nyro – “Poverty Train”
The Electric Flag – “Wine”
Jefferson Airplane – “White Rabbit”
Big Brother and the Holding Company (feat. Janis Joplin) – “Ball and Chain”
The Who – “Substitute”
Hugh Masekela – “Bajabula Bonke (Healing Song)”
Otis Redding – “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”
Jimi Hendrix – “Like a Rolling Stone”
The Mamas & The Papas – “California Dreamin'”
At the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles through May 14, you can view the photography exhibit Jim Marshall’s 1967, which takes a look at San Francisco’s Summer of Love through the lens of the fabled photographer.
On May 2, the Museum also will host a special evening with Giles Martin, who has done a new mix of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Anniversary Edition. The landmark album (produced by Giles’ late father) turns 50 on June 1.
1967 also was the year that Stephen Stills and Judy Collins “hooked up.” Their 2-year relationship resulted into the Stills’ famous song “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” The two have “reunited” to do their first real album together (Stills worked before with Collins but only as a sideman) that should be released this summer. This summer, they will embark on a tour too; their L.A. date is Sept. 1 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills.
Still’s busy 2017 also includes more shows with his current blues-based band The Ride that features other heavy hitters Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Barry Goldberg (FYI: Goldberg appears on the Monterey Pop CD as a member of the Electric Flag), and working on his long-in-the-works autobiography (which Stills notes he is doing on his own, stating “dammit, I’m writing it myself. Why would I use a ghostwriter? Do you want a 300-page People interview?”)
I saw it at the old Colony Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. I think my brother and I were among the handful of film-goers at our matinee screening. I suspect more folks will be attending these screenings.
Meanwhile, the new, nearly 4-hour Grateful Dead documentary Long Strange Trip, will be released in L.A. and N.Y.C. on May 26 and be available on Amazon Prime Video beginning June 2. Rhino will be putting out an accompanying soundtrack CD. Well, two CDs. One is a 2-disc set while there will be a 3-disc version that’s an Amazon exclusive. And later this summer, you can look for a monster 6-LP limited edition version.
Track Listing
Disc One
“Death Don’t Have No Mercy” (Live/Dead, Live At The Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA, 2/27/1969)
“St. Stephen” (Live/Dead, Live At The Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA, 2/27/1969)
“Uncle John’s Band” (Workingman’s Dead, 1970)
“Dark Star” (Live At The Fillmore East, New York, NY, 2/14/1970)*
“Easy Wind” (Workingman’s Dead, 1970)
“Candyman” (American Beauty, 1970)
“China Cat Sunflower”> (Live At Chateau d’Herouville, Herovuville, France, 6/21/1971)*
“I Know You Rider” (Live At Chateau d’Herouville, Herovuville, France, 6/21/1971)*
“Morning Dew” (Europe ’72, Live At The Lyceum Theatre, London, England, 5/26/1972)
Disc Two
“He’s Gone” (Sunshine Daydream, Live At Veneta, OR, 8/27/1972)
“The Music Never Stopped” (Live At The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, 8/13/1975)*
“Scarlet Begonias”> ( Cornell 5/8/77, Live At Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 5/8/1977)
“Fire On The Mountain” (Cornell 5/8/77, Live At Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 5/8/1977)
“Althea” (Go To Nassau, Live At Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, 5/16/1980)
“Touch Of Grey” (In The Dark, 1987)
“Dear Mr. Fantasy”> (Live At Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, MA, 7/2/1989)*
“Hey Jude” (Live At Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, MA, 7/2/1989)*
“Ripple”> (American Beauty, 1970)
“Brokedown Palace” (American Beauty, 1970)
Disc Three – Amazon Exclusive (CD and LP)
“Playing In The Band” (Europe ’72: The Complete Recordings, Live At Beat-Club, West Germany, 4/21/1972)
“Eyes Of The World” (Dick’s Picks, Vol. 31, Live At Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ, 1974)
“St. Stephen”> (Cornell 5/8/77, Live At Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 5/8/1977)
“Not Fade Away”> (Cornell 5/8/77, Live At Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 5/8/1977)
“St. Stephen” (Cornell 5/8/77, Live At Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 5/8/1977)
“Dark Hollow” (Reckoning, 1981)
“Stella Blue” (Live At Zoo Amphitheater, Oklahoma City, OK, 7/5/1981)*
“Days Between” (Live At Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, 10/18/1994)*
