Two weeks ago we took a look at a few versions of Solsbury Hill and we’ve got a Gold and a Silver medal to give out. The winner, by a landslide, is the a cappella group The Hyannis Sound - congrats guys. Coming in second was my good friends Rane. Sorry about the week off, how you all got by for 14 days without a playlist of covers to sit and judge, I’ll never know.
This week I’m returning to the original band featured in the first ever edition of Cover Wars, one of the most covered bands of all time: The Beatles. We’ve got six versions of Day Tripper here and don’t worry, there isn’t an American Idol clip anywhere near us this time. We’ve got a nice mix of some other artists of the ’60s covering the song while it was still ripe — and of course a few jambands rocking their way through the tune.
That’s mine. Including the lick, the guitar break and the whole bit. It’s just a rock ‘n roll song. Day trippers are people who go on a day trip, right? Usually on a ferryboat or something. But it was kind of-you know, you’re just aw weekend hippie. Get it?
Yep, we get it John. It’s also one of the songs that Lennon & McCartney disagree on the songwriting credits - but hey, all that matters is that it’s a great tune. You’re going to need to register/login to Imeem to hear the tracks in their entirety.
READ ON after the jump for voting, videos and descriptions…
Vivid Video, the home to numerous celebrity sex tapes over the years, is set to release their latest consisting of eleven grainy, black and white minutes of an Afro’d man that may or may not be Jimi Hendrix. Check out TMZ for a clip.
The film shows a naked man who resembles Hendrix, the guitar legend who died in 1970, wearing a bandanna in his Afro, having sex with two brunettes in a dimly lighted bedroom. His full face appears on screen for only a few seconds, with his eyes closed. In other portions there are flashes of his profile. But his hands, bedecked with rings, roam large on the screen at times. The film has no audio.
Vivid Entertainment said that after an extensive inquiry led by private detective agencies, it stands by the Hendrix film as the real thing.
According to the sex-film distributor Howie Klein, who sold the tape to Vivid, the film surfaced when a collector discovered a tin labeled “Black Man” in a box of rock memorabilia bought at an unidentified auction in London.
The film has circulated for years among Hendrix fans, who have long debated its veracity. So, who’s shelling out the 40 bucks to let us know if they think it’s real?
I know we are a fews days late on this one, but we want to take a moment to remember the legacy of legendary drummer Buddy Miles - who passed away last week at the age of 60. Yet another legend, taken too soon.
While we may all have loved his work suppling the vocals on the California Raisins ads back in the ’80s, he’s best known as a member of Jimi Hendrix’s sadly short lived Band Of Gypsys. What better way to pay tribute to Buddy then watching him in action at the Fillmore East from New Year’s Eve 1969:
Their Fillmore run mark the band’s first live performances, which is pretty amazing considering the music culled from the January 1st shows and put out as Band Of Gypsys can arguably be considered one of the greatest live albums of all time.
Artists have used nudity in their work since the days of the Greek Empire, so it’s no surprise that a few rock bands have used images of the naked body on their album artwork. Some bands use nudity to stir controversy, while a few others actually summon artistic intent to make their naked decisions.
For a while during the ’70s and ’80s it seemed like every week there was a new controversy over album art, but we don’t hear about that as much anymore. Two big factors have led to a decline in artists submitting albums with graphic covers. First, the obvious: CDs have a much more limited space for album artwork than vinyl. But more importantly, Wal-Mart has taken over physical distribution of albums, and they don’t stand for anything with even a hint on controversy. Apparently no one ever takes off their clothes in Bentonville, Arkansas.
This week’s B List takes a look at 10 controversial album covers that would never find their way into the racks at Wal-Mart (and, hey, nice racks). Some of these are quite graphic, so we’re gonna post them all after the jump and issue a big fat Not Safe For Work warning before we get down to business. So read on for our quick study of titties and penises on album covers…
The Beastie Boys announced plans for a vocal version of the previously instrumental album, The Mix-up, according to Billboard. Adam Yauch (aka MCA) says the B-Boys have their eye on collaborating with M.I.A., Lily Allen and Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker. Apparently the Beasties have a thing for the British. Yauch also spoke about releasing a visual version of the album featuring footage he shot on tour. Now word whether it’ll be called “Awesome; We Fuckin’ Shot This.”
Let’s get the last day of the week started properly with a heroic dose of linkage:
CBGB and MVD Entertainment Group have signed an agreement to release audio recordings from the legendary venue
We’ve got an abridged version of GTA for this week’s edition — well, less words, more links. There’s something for everyone on the list of streamable shows from SugarMegs, all concerts played on the Fourth of July. Clever, no? Shut it.
You can find some crazy videos when spelunking the depths of YouTube. This week’s edition of The B List presents 12 great clips from the backstage area at concerts. Some are funny, and others are just damn cool to see:
Read on below for a full list of 12 unbelievable backstage videos that span all genres, fantastic clips that include Van Halen, Jimi, DMX and Jay-Z, Leo Kottke, Nirvana, Dylan with Lou Reed and BB King, and Motley Crue’s meat fetish…
One of my favorite parts of collecting live music is listening to shows from early in a band’s career. In yesterday’s Pullin’ Tubes, Ace featured a video of Phish playing Run Like An Antelope from 1987. While Phish wasn’t ready to conquer the world at that time you can tell the band had a special sound. I love listening to the progression of music from different phases of artist’s careers. This week’s Grousing The Aisles looks at early gigs by some of my favorite bands:
I can’t believe I’ve been writing this column for over three months and I have yet to mention John Cipollina. Cipollina is one of the better guitar players ever to hail from San Francisco. He got his start with the Quicksilver Messenger Service before going on to play with The Dinosaurs, Gary Duncan’s Revival, and finally Zero. With Zero Cipollina surprised everyone by taking a secondary role to an unknown guitarist, Steve Kimock. In listening to this early Zero show, you can see why Cipollina gave Kimock the lead role. Check out the Tangled Hangers for an example of Kimock’s chops and songwriting abilities. Other highlights include Cipollina’s understated playing on covers of Little Wing, Gomorrah, and Higher Ground. Sadly Cipollina passed away in 1989, but the band played on for nearly a decade.
Read on for more downloads from God Street Wine, Jimi Hendrix, Blues Traveler, and The Flecktones
January may not be big on seeing live music, but it is by far the best month for news about seeing live music. Already this month we’ve digested tons of tour dates, festival lineup announcements, and plenty more. We’ll do our part to keep up that trend with the following links to occupy your time:
The Police are reportedly poised to announce an ambitious world tour after an appearance at, that’s right, The Grammys. Rock Music Daily provides some mp3s from 1982 to whet your appetite
For this week’s B List, we’re honored to introduce our friend Stuart Hartstone. Stuart has worked many festivals with “oo” at the end of the title for Superfly Productions, and most recently he has helped promote concerts and manage artists under the Hartstone Productions banner (along side his brother Jarrett).
“I’ve never been a fan of Top 10 lists when it comes to music — to me, the premise is kind of silly. I’ve always believed that art was in the eye of the beholder, so who’s to say one person’s art is better than someone else’s? But I also generally tend to disagree with most Top 10 lists. I don’t know who writes these things, but with the exception of The B List’s recent Top 10 Side Projects, I often come away feeling like the author has his head firmly affixed up his ass.
Well, that didn’t stop me from taking this opportunity to put together a Top 10 list of my own. I was listening to the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers the other day, and Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ came on. I’ve always loved that song, especially the intro. For lack of a better word, it’s just so badass. So it got me thinking: What other songs have similar badass intros like that one? You know, an intro that is just so good it makes you want to pump your fist in the air and yell ‘Yeah!’
So while I know some of you probably won’t agree with me on all of this — I’m still not 100% convinced I do — here without further ado is my Top 10 Badass Guitar Riff Song Intros. While you might not agree with all my choices, I think you will find that for the most part, the intros to these songs are pretty fuckin’ badass!”
Read on below for Stuart Hartstone’s guest edition of The B List…
