It hardly seems like six months have passed since the beginning of the year, but here we are on June 26. While I’ve failed miserably at fulfilling all of my resolutions I did see a ton of incredible shows. Now I get to rate them, as this week’s B List looks at my ten favorite concerts of the first half of ‘08.
What’s the criteria for this list? Well, obviously I had to be there to catch the show, so I can’t give MMJ @ Bonnaroo “show of the year” honors even though the tapes seem to indicate they deserve it. All I can go by is my gut and how wide of a smile each of these performances induced. Here’s what I’ve got…
I’ve had the pleasure of catching J-Ha at the Blue Note on three separate occasions, but the performance she gave at the legendary jazz club in May was the cat’s pajamas. I brought my cousin to the show, and it was incredible to see how in awe she was of Jen’s voice, trumpet playing and the way Jen took control of the audience. Let’s hope there are more Jennifer Hartswick gigs in store for us New Yorkers. READ ON for Scotty’s top nine shows of the first half of ‘08…
We’re quickly approaching the midpoint of 2008, and I’m starting to think about the best concerts I’ve seen so far this year. Picking the top two shows is easy as the second and third installments of Paul Simon’s Love In Hard Times were such incredible musical experiences that satisfied all of my senses.
As a special treat for the holiday weekend I’ve put a mix together of my favorite performances from those two shows. We begin with David Byrne’s “I’ll make you think I wrote this tune” version of I Know What I Know before we move on to phenomenal Brazilian singer Luciana Souza’s brilliant take on Can’t Run But. Amos Lee delivers Peace Like A River, while Gillian Welch teams with Paul Simon and David Rawlings for a gorgeous Sounds of Silence.
My mom’s gonna love Josh Groban’s duet with Simon on Bridge Over Troubled Water, but I loved it too. Olu Dara offers a completely different interpretation of Slip Slidin’ Away, yet Grizzly Bear’s Mother and Child Reunion takes the prize for the most unique cover of the residency. We finish with my permagrin moment: Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo performing the spine-tingling Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.
Springtime means several things: the return of flip flops and sundresses, baseball season in full swing, margaritas, outside seating at restaurants, playing hookey from work and busting out music that always sounds better with the sun shining.
Just like whiskey tastes better in the winter, certain artists just feel more like “spring.” Here are some favorite springtime artists and some recommendations for that sun-drenched day playlist:
The Allman Brothers Band - The Allman Brothers Band and springtime always seem to go great together. Back when there was an actual spring in April, the Allman’s Beacon run was an annual celebration. Unfortunately this year, April in New York City has consisted of about 3 spring-like days total and the Allmans had to cancel their Beacon dates due to Greg Allman’s illness.
I sat down to write a review of the magnificent Under African Skies show I saw at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Thursday night, but I got pulled in 100 different directions and never got a chance to finish my sweet blog. Well, we’re nearly a week removed from the show, and I can’t get any of the songs out of my head.
Let me just say that I’ve seen plenty of group performances before, but Under African Skies was one of the best. All of the guest musicians sounded perfect for the songs they were playing, and clearly spent plenty of time learning the tunes. Paul Simon’s band backed up each of the performers brilliantly. The coolest guest spot belonged to David Byrne, who breathed fire into You Can Call Me Al and I Know What I Know. Byrne’s take on I Know What I Know absolutely blew me away. You would’ve thought he had written the tune himself:
Dean Ween spent the last few years looking for an adequate backup guitar without much success. The master luthiers over at the Fender Custom Shop came up with a solution by offering to replicate the red frankenstein stratocaster the Ween guitarist has been playing forever. Deaner recently sent the axe to the custom shop, where the guitar makers took the guitar apart to photograph and weigh each of the components. Check out this page for a detailed set of photos.
Here’s a batch of links to keep you busy this morning:
The Dolans plan to renovate MSG instead of building a new one
Axl Rose hires two of the best managers in the biz to guide his career
Andrew Bird describes his songwriting process in a blog on NYTimes.com
And we couldn’t end this column without taking Jim Harrington of the Costa County Times to task. Harrington put together a list of his 10 favorite concert films, and put the Beastie Boys’ Awesome I F*ckin Shot That ahead of The Last Waltz. The Beasties’ film certainly offers a fresh look at the live music experience, but putting it ahead of Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece?
Leave a comment below if you think I’m way off base…
Well the Tea Leaf Green fans have done it…and that is awesome because ballot-stuffing is encouraged here at Hidden Track. Turns out Trevor really is the best one to sing “I Am An Old Woman”…Seriously though, nice turnout! DGold, the person who had TLG on his radio show in the first place to play this song, said he listened to all eight versions and ended up casting his vote for Susan Tedeschi - you sir are why we do this.
Onwards to Volume 5, this week we’ll be listening to interesting renditions of Paul Simon’s 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. Paul Simon is very guarded when song meanings are attempted to be extracted from him, and this single from his album Still Crazy After All These Years is no exception.
Read on to get DaveO’s tale of the tape on this week’s song and competitors…
Manhattan hooks many of the best New York City gigs, but Brooklyn has scored one of the most interesting concert series of the young year. The Brooklyn Academy of Music celebrates the music of Paul Simon by presenting Love In The Hard Times, an extraordinary three-part series with performances from Simon, David Byrne, Grizzly Bear, Little Anthony and the Imperials and several others.
Songs From The Capeman starts things off on April 1-6 with its Latin-flavored songs and ’50s doo-wop feel. On April 9-13 Simon, Byrne and a number of other guests present Under African Skies, which explores the material from Graceland and The Rhythm of the Saints. Finally, Simon revisits the quiet railway stations, urban rhythms, and immigrant dreams of his greatest American Tunes on April 21-27.
Now here’s a batch of other linkage to help you beat those mid-week blues:
Finally, read on for the latest brilliant episode from the Yacht Rock crew. Sit back and watch the story of Kenny Loggins writing Footloose starring Jason Lee…
It feels like forever since we posted a Grousing The Aisles, but it’s only been two weeks. We’re gonna make up for lost time by posting three incredible soundboards by legendary artists and linking to an additional five at the end of the piece As my mom likes to say “Don’t ever say we never gave you anything.” Let’s get down to business…
Sly and the Family Stone 09/01/1969 SBD [FLAC, MP3]
Much has been made about Sly Stone’s reappearance onto the scene. Sly clearly has seen better days, so instead of looking at his present, let’s take a look at a golden oldie from the days when crack was just the line on your ass. Just this week we came across an incredible soundboard of Sly and the Family Stone’s groundbreaking performance at the Texas International Pop Festival in 1969. You can hear the urgency in Sly’s voice as he sings early versions of songs that would soon be classics.
The whole band absolutely kills this material throughout the set. M’lady brings the funk, Sing A Simple Song shows a bit of a harder edge and Stand! gives the crowd a feel for the more political side of Stone’s music. All of Sly’s musicians are having a great night, especially bass player Larry Graham. Other highlights include a bombastic Dance To The Music and the whole filler, especially the guitar-driven Thank You (Fallentime Be Mice Elf Again). If you want to see what Sly and the Family Stone was all about, download this set or check out the Woodstock video, but whatever you do don’t pay $75 to see them play. Read on for tasty boots from Paul Simon, the Dead and more…
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.
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…
NBC tonight will be showing a special called Live From New York: The First 5 Years of Saturday Night Live at 8 pm. While we’re sure there will be plenty of hilarious clips from the likes of John Belushi and Bill Murray, we’re far more excited for the musical performances they’ll be dredging up.
SNL was one of the first shows on television that gave artists an opportunity to play without a net on live television. Not only that, the bookers at SNL were always willing to feature bands that weren’t exactly in line with the mainstream. Who else at the time would have let Frank Zappa borrow Don Pardo to perform an edgy satirical song like I Am The Slime?
Many of the best musical performances in SNL’s history occurred during the first five years of the show’s run. Featured on tonight’s special will be clips of The Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello and George Harrison accompanying Paul Simon. If you can’t catch tonight’s show, check out the YouTube’z below:
