This is a great album and I look forward to the reissue. I saw them in concert several times around them and they were terrific.
This link will take you to the complete album
Category: Music
I saw a Bruce Springsteen concert for free in 1973
I got to see Springsteen for free on 9/8/73. See the description below. He only had one album out and Pitt had him on a bill in a nearby park. The set was short – maybe 30-40 minutes. I remember that Buzzy Linhart played but didn’t recall the other act.
Here are two descriptions with a setlist.
https://www.brucespringsteen.it/DB/mn.aspx?ex=197309081
http://brucebase.wikidot.com/gig:1973-09-08-flagstaff-hill-pittsburgh-pa
Here’s the review in the Pitt News:
The cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan – Tweets and articles
The Nuggets collections
Nuggets is a series of vinyl and CD collections started by Lenny Kaye in 1972. They are compilations of garage rock and pyschedelic songs from the 1960s, many by one-hit wonders.
Groundbreaking garage rock compilation ‘Nuggets’ turns 50
The 50 Best Garage Rock Songs of All Time
Here are some of my favorite songs from the compilations
Tweets and articles on the strange life of Jim Gordon
Drummer Jim Gordon, who died on March 13, 2023, was in Derek and the Dominos and played on many great records as a session musician. However, he was schizophrenic and killed his mother. He spent the rest of his life in jail.
1994 Washington Post article on Gordon
Elvis Costello’s This Year’s Model was released on 3/17/78
This Year’s Model is a great album. It had a new fresh sound unlike anything I knew of when it was released.
I watched the documentary “Who Is Harry Nilsson?”
I have been watching the DVD of the documentary Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)?.
The format is very conventional – interviews with family and friends plus performance clips. It’s very well done, though and goes over his good points and bad ones. I recommend checking it out. He was a unique writer and performer who does not get much attention now but his best material still holds up. If you don’t know his music, this is a great introduction.
I posted links to the trailer and entire film on YouTube.
I also posted links to some videos that have briefer clips in the film.
Pussy Cats, his 1974 album, was a mixed bag but I love his cover of “Many Rivers to Cross”. It was produced by John Lennon and reminds me of his own records of that era.
My thoughts on The Last Waltz
I recently watched The Last Waltz (1978) for the second time. I saw it in a theater as one of five customers on an afternoon show when it was new.
Here are some random comments:
It was sad to see so many young people in 1976 and know what happened to them later. Many of the performers are no longer with us.
There have been criticisms that the film focused too much on Robbie Robertson and they are valid.
Most of the songs are not complete but they are skillfully edited and well-photographed. Criterion has done a fine job with the Blu-ray disc.
Neil Diamond still sucks.
Muddy Waters is great.
None of the Band performances is better than the original recording. I saw them four times between 1970-1974 and thought they were better earlier. They were certainly more animated by 1976.
I wish they had credited the horn section players and arrangers (or did I miss it).
It’s surprising that the big group singalong (“I Shall Be Released”) and the final actual song they played (“Don’t Do It” were not originals. They had plenty of songs they wrote they could have selected.
Dylan’s choice of songs was odd. The performance of “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” is outstanding. I have never liked “Forever Young”. On the album, the Dylan/Band songs include “Hazel” a mediocre song from Planet Waves. Why?
People smoking cigarettes
No unusual song choices for the Band performances. This is true of their live albums too. It’s always “The Weight”, “Stage Fright”, “The Shape I’m In’, “Up On Cripple Creek”. I would like to have seen “Look Out Cleveland” or “Sleeping” for example.
Tweets on Ron “Pigpen” McKernan of the Grateful Dead
Huey Smith
Huey “Piano” Smith was a great New Orleans musician who passed away recently. I didn’t know his music until Dr. John covered several songs on his album Gumbo. I didn’t hear it until there were CDs of it much later. Highly recommended. Listen to the examples below.
What an idea:
Sad! 