One of the more unfortunate aspects of being a rock star is that fame and fortune attract shady elements like a moth to a flame. Local boy does good only to meet his demise at the hands of a hanger-on gone bad — we’ve seen the same story repeated on all 150 episodes of Behind The Music. So many legendary musicians have been robbed from us under the most suspicious of circumstances.
Perhaps this week’s B List is a little too morbid, but hey…life isn’t just sunshine and lollipops (go fuck a rainbow, hippie). So we’ve assembled a list of 10 rock stars whose lives were cut short when they were violently murdered. Some of these stories are absolutely crazy and deserve a whole post. But we’re not going to get into all the gory details, so click on the rocker’s name to find out more.
1. Jaco Pastorius: John Francis Anthony Pastorius II was arguably the best musician to ever play bass. His solo work, and the time he spent as a member of Weather Report, showed off the precision and speed he brought to the table. Check out this clip of Pastorius nailing Slang for an example of what made him such a unique player. Jaco’s career ended tragically in 1987 when he was beaten to death by a bouncer at a nightclub in Florida. Read on for more…
When bands team up with Web 2.0 companies, they usually come up with some lame gimmick to convince their fans to join their service. But kudos to Tea Leaf Green and Eventful for teaming up to create a contest that’s actually beneficial to their supporters. TLG fans who sign up for Eventful will have a chance to “demand” where the band plays an upcoming show. The city that gets the most demands gets a Tea Leaf show, including an opening set by acoustic alter ego Coffee Bean Brown. While Las Vegas is currently winning, our vote goes to Jena, Louisiana. They totally need to Address that Community.
Let’s start the week with the best link dump this side of Zelda:
Finally, we think we may have stumbled across the lineup for next year’s Vineland Festival. The show poster follows after the jump…
When I first started collecting bootlegs, the quality on most of the cassettes and LPs I purchased was downright awful. Many were sourced from audience recordings that sounded like they were taped under Rerun’s trench coat. In the early ’90s a few bootleggers from Italy began focusing on releasing high-quality recordings that came from the soundboard. Now that the Interweb has made sharing shows so easily, you can find the crispiest of recordings everywhere. This week’s GTA presents four A+ quality soundboard-sourced boots for your pleasure.
Marvin Gaye ??-??-1983 SBD [FLAC, MP3 ] (date unknown, from Atlanta)
It’s just not right that Marvin Gaye was stolen from us in 1984. Just check out this bootleg from 1983 for an example of how The King of R&B was just hitting his stride. Gaye shows throughout the evening that it just doesn’t get better than his mix of well-written songs performed with the passion that was a trademark of his sound. Check out the moans from the ladies in the audience when Marvin starts Distant Lover. Even though this recording is a soundboard, you can hear the mostly female crowd voice their approval throughout.
Gaye’s voice sounds great from the opening notes of Let’s Get It On through the scintillating Sexual Healing closer. The backing band performs its job admirably, especially during a wild romp through Rockin’ After Midnight. Marvin Gaye is well-regarded as an artist, but he’s underrated as a live performer. Hopefully terrific sounding bootlegs like this one will help show that you Gotta Give It Up to him live. Read on after the jump for three more GTA SBDs from the Flaming Lips, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and The Band…
My buddy Fritz recently asked for some help in selecting music for his wedding reception down in Mejico. This song, and specifically this version, topped my list…
There’s not much to say about Marvin Gaye that hasn’t been said ad nauseum by tons of white people trying to look hip (like myself). The guy had a tremendous set of pipes, fantastic dance moves and his dad shot him dead. We’ve heard it all before. The only somewhat under-the-radar fact about Gaye I know is that he got cougared — his first wife, Berry Gordy’s sister, was 17 years older than him. I think I like using cougar as a verb, but that’s not really important here.
What’s terrifically important is that this version of Got To Give It Up from the 1980 Montreux Jazz Festival contains eight of the most badass minutes in music history. I said Goddamn! I literally dance on tables when I hear this tune…
This ain’t no party…this ain’t no disco…this ain’t no crap filler post…
I can’t get enough Talking Heads. And if you’re like me, you’ll enjoy this brand new-to-YouTube clip of Byrne & Co. rocking British television on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1978. Take a look at Tina Weymouth laying it down and tell me Bisco’s Marc Brownstein didn’t steal his whole look and persona from her.
- Fuck the copyright shit — YouTube really is worth all that Google cash. I mean, where else can you randomly stumble upon a rare clip of Marvin Gaye and Tina Turner performing on television back in 1964? ‘Tube score is the new ground score. (Twelve years later Marvin treated an Amsterdam audience to this shining example of perfection.)
- I usually try to stay away from the easy stuff in this department, eschew from posting a bunch of Phish and Dead. But if you haven’t seen it, here’s a classic video of the popular rock band breaking down Max Creek’s Back Porch Boogie Blues at The Ranch on 5/20/87.
- When members of the Aquarium Rescue Unit aren’t bailing out the likes of Panic and Trey, they’re ripping it up all over these United States. Check out this cool JamCam Chronicles video of Col. Bruce Hampton & The Codetalkers with Jimmy Herring on Yield Not To Temptation. Sweetness.
- My buddy Hoobs recommended I check out this cool new cartoon called Frisky Dingo, and his recommendation is sound. Now I present you with this friendly prodding: The comedy is high, and the current charts can’t hold it. It’s off the charts: Part I and Part II of Episode 2.
- And lastly, our man Coach brought this clip to our attention — Celine Dion and some other chick (Trey Anastacia?) performing AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long at a Divas concert in Las Vegas. For the record, I’d probably rather watch Celine get eaten by Montecore the Tiger than have to see this live. But you should watch it, ‘cuz it’s really not that bad.
And even though this one ain’t quite music related, it’s a prelude to my upcoming week-long trip to Jolly Ol’ England for five soccer matches in one week. This Sunday’s 2-1 Arsenal victory over Premiership leader Manchester United was nothing short of extraordinary, a match that would’ve made a fan out of the biggest soccer haters. This thing was so frenetic and action-packed that I figured I’d post the entire four minutes of highlights: You can watch the whole clip here, which I recommend quite strenuously. Enjoy it all, people. Take it all in.
Once a year, Grousing The Aisles comes out on the last work day of the week. And that day is today, which means it’s essentially a Friday right now.
Here’s my friendly advice to help you celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday weekend: Start downloading these shows now, so that when you get back from your holiday host you’ll have plenty of music to wash out all the Christmas music that will begin to surround you. And with a last name like Bernstein, I’d rather hear a mix of classic rock, funky soul and jambanditry, like this week’s fresh slate of downloads:
Heart — 08/03/76 SBD (FLAC)
This is one of the tastiest-sounding of all soundboards from Heart, which in 1976 was just starting its climb to rock infamy. Not only does this recording feature original hits such as Magic Man and Crazy On You, but the Wilson sisters tear their way through three hotter-than-fuck Led Zeppelin tunes: Lez Zeppelin has nothing on the original female Zeppelin. Cameron Crowe is a lucky man — his wife Nancy Wilson drops guitar solos that offer some serious face meltage. Since this show is a must own, we also offer up the 320kbps MP3 files from sendspace. And, c’mon, check out those sweet mullets. Read on for more great downloads…
