It’s been a busy stretch here, and we’re not quite through it yet. So please bear with us – we will post sporadically for the next couple weeks, then we’ll be back in the saddle just in time for the holiday season.
In the meantime, we’d like to share “Rewrite” by Paul Simon from his latest, Live In New York City.
The legendary singer/songwriter has a live album/DVD out, Live In New York City. The recordings are taken from a performance at New York’s Webster Hall during Simon’s 2011 tour.
Here’s “Boy In The Bubble,” which first appeared on the classic Graceland album.
Paul McCartney, at age 70, is a textbook example of how old guys can still rock.
It used to be very true that rock and roll was not made by old people. “Old” used to mean people over age 30. So what happened?
Bob Dylan (age 71) just released Tempest to glowing reviews – it should appear on the upper reaches of the Billboard album charts in a few days, but probably not at No. 1. Paul McCartney (age 70) is currently performing close to three-hour sets on his “On The Run” tour, which began last summer in New York City. Roger Waters (age 69) and Rod Stewart (age 67) are also touring, while relative youngster Bruce Springsteen (age 62) can’t be dragged off a stage for anything.
Paul Simon (age 70), Crosby, Stills & Nash (average age 69) and the Beach Boys (average age 70) have live DVDs and/or CDs from recent tours. Van Morrison (age 67) is about to release his 34th studio album, Born To Sing: No Plan B, in early October. Mark Knopfler (age 63) and ZZ Top (average age 60) have strong new albums out, Neil Young (age 66) is readying a new album and tour, and the Rolling Stones (average age 68) keep threatening to do something to celebrate their 50th anniversary. And you can’t stop Willie Nelson (age 79)!
So what gives? Is there something in the water?
Well, pretty much all of these guys mentioned above are big draws on the concert circuit so one can cynically say that the lure of the big bucks is enough to get these codgers out of their rockers. Nobody makes money off albums any more, so each of these acts will go on the road to support an album if they haven’t already. Hell, Dylan’s been touring constantly since the early 1980s.
You think maybe it’s an indication that music being produced today somehow doesn’t measure up to those classics of the past? Perhaps – nothing sends concertgoers to the restrooms/beer 
vendors faster than “a new song off our latest album.” Even superstars like McCartney and Dylan know better than to populate their concerts with new material.
And it’s tempting to say worthless stuff like “do you think we’ll be paying to see Bon Iver or Green Day live in 15 years?” Because unless you are a total idiot, you know the answer is yes. It may not be Bon Iver or Green Day specifically, but it could be that Weezer reunion or the surviving members of Mumford and Sons or the remnants of Radiohead.
Because it’s not necessarily about who is playing, but what they’re playing. It’s rock and roll, and despite what smartasses over the years keep saying, it’s not dead.
It’s pretty damn old, and it’s not pretty (take a close look at the cover of the latest issue of Rolling Stone). But rock and roll is still alive because we want it to be. The footsoldiers of rock and roll are sticking around because we want them to – the audience changes more than the artists, and as we discover new acts we like, we also go back and appreciate the past. My kids know more about the Beatles and the Stones and the Who than I ever did, when I was a teenager and those boys had brand-new songs on the radio every day.
Women seem to know better, they know when it’s time to fade away – although you can make a pretty good case for rockers like Joan Jett and Bonnie Raitt being here for quite a while. Pop artists are another thing entirely: Madonna has well overstayed her welcome and the decline of Katy Perry, Britney Spears, et. al. won’t be pretty.
Perhaps it’s best just not to think about these things. We’re all going to get to the end of the trail – literally and figuratively – one day. Rock and roll is here to distract us from that brutal truth, to keep us dancing until we can’t any more.
So. The Rolling Stones may tour next year? Don’t know about you, but I’m gonna buy a ticket. For a few hours, I’m gonna be young again.
We are taking a few days off to celebrate our country’s birthday and if you are an astute reader, you will know this is simply last year’s July 4 post with a few different songs tossed in.
Wherever you are, take a few moments to appreciate your freedom – and remember there are still places in the world where armed thugs can kick down your door and drag you away just for reading this blog. Celebrate freedom this weekend, and let it ring around the world.
You are welcome to enjoy the enclosed music at your summer party. See ya!
MP3: “Star Spangled Banner/Purple Haze” (live at Woodstock) by Jimi Hendrix
MP3: “American Idiot” (live) by Green Day
MP3: “Freedom Blues” by Little Richard
MP3: “Do You Remember the Americans” (alternate track) by Manassas
MP3: “Promised Land” by Chuck Berry
MP3: “Fourth of July” by Dave Alvin
MP3: “Let’s Turn This Thing Around” by Peter Case
MP3: “Freedom” by Richie Havens (2009 version)
MP3: “Simple Song Of Freedom” by Tim Hardin (live at Woodstock)
MP3: “Every Hand In The Land” by Arlo Guthrie (live at Woodstock)
MP3: “That Ain’t My America” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
MP3: “Rednecks” by Randy Newman
MP3: “I Shall Be Free” by Bob Dylan
MP3: “Listen To Me” by Bill Miller
MP3: “Back In The U.S.A.” (live) by Edgar Winter’s White Trash w/Rick Derringer
MP3: “Fourth of July” by Soundgarden
MP3: “American Tune” by Paul Simon
MP3: “America, Fuck Yeah” by Team America, South Park or whatever
It’s a trick! This video is actually Paul Simon covering Brian Wilson – from a 2001 tribute to the Beach Boys’ resident genius, Simon performs “Surfer Girl.”
Ah Betty ... how could you?
Just a few weeks ago we were all bothered about yet another female celebrity caught naked, after someone hacked into her private cellphone stash. I still can’t figure what’s the problem – she took the pictures herself and obviously wanted somebody besides herself to see them (otherwise she could have just used a mirror to look at her own ass).
Maybe she doesn’t want us all to see these photos; maybe she just doesn’t want us all to see these photos for free. Maybe she would rather we pay 10 bucks for a movie ticket to get a glimpse of her ass … I don’t know.
The news said the FBI is investigating to find out who stole the pictures and leaked them; maybe the actress wants to give him a commission for getting her name out there. Wow, good to know there aren’t more dangerous criminals that the FBI should be looking for.
We live in a world of self absorption and technological privilege. The internet has opened up our lives with a huge picture window that isn’t always so easy to close.
Meanwhile, we fuel the gossip whores by listening and watching. Somebody’s always watching – and it’s no wonder, because somebody’s always putting something out there to watch.
MP3: “Sirius/Eye In The Sky” by the Alan Parsons Project
MP3: “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morrisette
MP3: “Private Eyes” by Hall and Oates
MP3: “You Lookin’ At Me Lookin’ At You” by Ozzy Osbourne
MP3: “I Turn My Camera On” by Spoon
MP3: “Infatuation” by Rod Stewart
We are taking a few days off to celebrate our country’s birthday and if you are an astute reader, you will know this is simply last year’s July 4 post with a few extra songs tossed in.
Wherever you are, take a few moments to appreciate your freedom – and remember there are still places in the world where armed thugs can kick down your door and drag you away just for reading this blog. Celebrate freedom this weekend, and let it ring around the world.
You are welcome to enjoy the enclosed music at your summer party. See ya!
MP3: “Star Spangled Banner/Purple Haze” (live at Woodstock) by Jimi Hendrix
MP3: “American Idiot” (live) by Green Day
MP3: “Do You Remember the Americans” (alternate track) by Manassas
MP3: “Red, White and Blue” (live) by Lynyrd Skynyrd
MP3: “Promised Land” by Chuck Berry
MP3: “Freedom” by Richie Havens (2009 version)
MP3: “Simple Song Of Freedom” by Tim Hardin (live at Woodstock)
MP3: “Every Hand In The Land” by Arlo Guthrie (live at Woodstock)
MP3: “I Shall Be Free” by Bob Dylan
MP3: “Back In The U.S.A.” (live) by Edgar Winter’s White Trash w/Rick Derringer
MP3: “American Tune” by Paul Simon
MP3: “America, Fuck Yeah” by Team America, South Park or whatever
MP3: “Living In America” by James Brown
MP3: “U. S. Blues” by the Grateful Dead
MP3: “Spirit Of America” by the Beach Boys
MP3: “Momma Miss America” by Paul McCartney
MP3: “Rockin’ In The Free World” (live) by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
MP3: “Free and Freaky (In The U.S.A.)” by the Stooges
MP3: “Fourth of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
MP3: “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream” by Johnny Cash
Teena Marie
The passing of R&B singer/songwriter Teena Marie on the day after Christmas (and, recently, Captain Beefheart) got us to thinking about these rock and roll tragedies, and how many of them happen during the holiday season. Otis Redding’s plane crashed in December 1967, while John Lennon was gunned down in December 1980. James Brown passed on Christmas Day 2006, Beach Boy Dennis Wilson drowned a few days before New Year’s 1984 and guitarist Randy California of Spirit disappeared in a California riptide on the day after New Year’s 1997.
A word here about Teena Marie: she burst onto the scene in the late 1970s as a teenaged protege of funkster Rick James, and until she appeared with him on a 1979 episode of “Soul Train,” many listeners thought she was black. Teena Marie was a white act signed to Motown Records, and her music combined rock and R&B to make her an influence on present-day acts like Rihanna and Beyonce.
MP3: “Lovergirl” by Teena Marie
MP3: “Can It Be Love” by Teena Marie
OK, let’s turn back the clock a bit to the 1950s and take a look at another R&B great – Johnny Ace. Originally from Memphis, this preacher’s son originally played in a band that had B.B. King as its guitarist. When King left, Ace took over the band and in 1952 Johnny Ace and the Beale Streeters became one of the first acts to record for the fledgling Duke Records.
A great pianist, Ace showed his skill on instrumentals like “Ace’s Wild” but he most often accompanied himself on smoky late-night tunes like “Angel” and “Cross My Heart.” Touring heavily, Ace put together a string of hits that included “Please Forgive Me,” “The Clock,” “Yes, Baby,” “Saving My Love for You,” and “Never Let Me Go.”
Radio loved this guy, and so did concert audiences – usually on a bill with Big Mama Thornton or Duke label mate Bobby “Blue” Bland, Johnny Ace was quite a big star in 1954.
The late, great Johnny Ace
It was Christmas 1954, and Johnny Ace was about to play a gig in Houston’s City Auditorium. Backstage, he was fooling around with a pistol and scaring other musicians by waving it around carelessly. When somebody told him to be careful, Ace laughed and said “It’s okay, it isn’t loaded.” He put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger – you can guess the rest. Some reports say Ace was playing Russian roulette, but eyewitnesses confirmed the first version of the story.
After his funeral in Memphis the day after New Year’s, Johnny Ace had a monster posthumous hit with “Pledging My Love,” cut in Houston with Johnny Otis earlier in 1954. Fueled by morbid interest in the singer’s untimely death (he was only 25), “Pledging” rocketed to No. 1 on the R&B charts and stayed there for 10 weeks, and on the pop charts it broke into the Top 20. In the year after Ace’s death Robey continued to raid the vault and Johnny Ace scored a handful more hits before receding into the mists of legend.
He was remembered most famously by Paul Simon in 1983, who wrote and sang “The Late Great Johnny Ace,” which also made reference to the murder of John Lennon. Simon first performed the song in 1981 during the Simon & Garfunkel reunion in New York’s Central Park. Near the end of the performance an audience member rushed the stage, causing Simon to pull away from the microphone. As security yanked the guy away he yelled to Simon, “I gotta talk to you, I gotta talk to you.” Visibly shaken, Simon continued the song but it was a scary moment as seen on video.
If you can tear yourself away from work (or, more likely, the office Christmas party) for a few minutes, we have an announcement to make. Because you have all been such good and helpful readers this year, and as a little thank-you for helping us reach 1 million readers earlier this month, we have a Christmas gift for you.
Actually, it’s a handful of Christmas gifts: free music! OK, we know what you’re saying, but … this is LEGAL free music provided to you by outlets that may or may not be more legitimate than us. Usually you have to fork over an e-mail address in return, but it’s still free. And there are some legitimately big artists here. Don’t thank us, it’s just our way of saying we appreciate you.
“Discoverer,” a new song from R.E.M.
The Sharpest Crown EP from Joe Pug
“Getting Ready For Christmas Day,” a new song by Paul Simon
“Tree By The River,” a new song by Iron and Wine
Songs from 10 Albums You May Have Missed in 2010, courtesy of SPIN
“Ghost Woman Blues,” a new song by the Low Anthem
Vans Warped Tour 2011 Sneak Peek Sampler (iTunes download)
A ton of free holiday music from Amazon.com (Registration may be required)
“Down By The Water,” a new song from The Decemberists (via Pitchfork)
Free top tunes from the 2010 Austin City Limits festival, from SPIN
Think Indie Xmas Nog sampler (featuring Blondie, Neko Case, Lee “Scratch” Perry and more) (Free registration required)
When I was a kid, singles were the best way to get into music – that is, music that wasn’t interrupted on the radio by some golden throat in love with his own voice. I kind of remember having some singles with the price tag still attached to the paper sleeve; those were 50 cents but I more clearly remember paying about 68 cents for a single in the late 1960s-early 1970s. And the first single I ever bought with my own money? “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys, in 1966.
OK, here’s an old one: Procol Harum had a giant hit in 1967 with “A Whiter Shade of Pale” and they followed it up the same year with “Homburg,” a song that not coincidentally sounded a lot like its predecessor. The followup did reasonably well, and although neither “Whiter Shade” nor “Homburg” were originally on the British version of Procol Harum’s first album (“Whiter Shade” was included on the U.S. version), they now appear on the CD release.
MP3: “Homburg” by Procol Harum
Jumping into the 1970s, we encounter the singer-songwriter duo Brewer and Shipley. Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley are perhaps best known for “One Toke Over The Line” from their 1970 album Tarkio, but they had a handful of followup hits including “Shake Off The Demon,” the title tune from their 1971 album.
30 Days Out 