Row Knows

Jerry week was fun but, I’ve been catching up on a lot of other great, live, music lately and I thought I’d share some of it with you.

First up, on the heels of yesterday’s Spiritualized article, I have a link to a show from just last month. On July 25, 2008, Spiritualized kicked much ass onstage at Washington DC’s 9:30 Club. Being a completely oblivious fool, I missed the show. However, NPR’s All Songs Considered made the gig and they’ve made it available for your listening pleasure. Check It Out.

This Summer, My Bloody Valentine broke 13 years of silence and hit the stage in the UK. For some fans this is a dream come true. Me, I’m waiting for the full-blown US tour before I crap myself. Anyway, they did play and they brought their sheets of sound in a big way. Web In Front has a recording of the 2008-06-13 show up as a podcast right here. I have to tell you two things about the recording. First, the vocals are inaudible beneath the rest of the instruments. Second, Web In Front suggests that you start listening at a conservative volume and they are not messing with you. It gets loud. Handle with care.

TAB marquee image shamelessly linked from one of my favorite music blogs: Hidden Track

Next up is the guy who first hipped me to My Bloody Valentine, Trey Anastasio. He played two electric shows last week in the NYC area with a band he’s calling “Classic Tab.” Read More »

I’ve been listening to Spiritualized since the second single, “Run” made minor waves in 1991. Born from the ashes of 80s British acidhouse/shoegaze casualties, Spacemen 3, Spiritualized has been helmed by singer/songwriter/guitarist Jason Pierce (aka. J Spaceman) with the support of a rotating cast of players. Let’s kick this off with the song that got me into the band, “Run.”

I won’t go into the sordid tales and hearsay related to J Spaceman and the band. I just love the music. A wash of guitars, heavy on the sustain, the horns and backing choirs of the later incarnations… It’s hard to sum this group up in a short blurb. Check out this studio version of “Electricity” from the album, Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are All Floating In Space:

And now a live version of “Come Together” from the same album:

That’s a pretty strong dose of what these guys are selling. But, it gets bigger and, in some opinions, better. Here is “Stop Your Crying” from 2001’s Let It Come Down:

Flash forward to 2003 and we get “She Kissed Me (It Felt Like A Hit)” from the album Amazing Grace:

That’s a step back toward the guitar madness of the early years (never gone but certainly covered up by the strings and gospel singers.) Now, in 2008 we have Songs In A&E. The lengthy gap between albums is partially due to the severe health problems suffered by Pierce (bi-lateral pneumonia…) in the interim. The title, in fact, is a direct reference to his hospital stay in the “Accident & Emergency ward” (A&E) and the album itself is dedicated to the staff at The Royal London Hospital where he was treated.

So now, lets have a listen to the first single for the album, “Soul on Fire”

And lets cap this journey off with the latest single (B-Side, actually) “You Lie, You Cheat”

All right. So go check these guys out. Buy their records, see their shows and… enjoy!

There were days
and there were days
and there were days I know
when all we ever wanted
was to learn and love and grow
Once we grew into our shoes
we told them where to go
walked halfway around the world
on promise of the glow
stood upon a mountain top
walked barefoot in the snow
gave the best we had to give
how much we’ll never know we’ll never know

-”Days Between” (Hunter/Garcia)

Jerry was the kind of player that had to play. He couldn’t be off for very long before he had to get out and start making music with someone, even if The Grateful Dead wasn’t touring or working in the studio. This led to a long stream of side-bands, most featuring bass player John Kahn but, otherwise changing in lineup (and name) from the early 70s up until he passed.

There was his brief stint with jazz organist, Howard Wales (which produced the heavy and far-out Hooterall? album.) This was followed by collaborations with Merle Saunders, Nicky Hopkins, Martin Fierro and more. And lets not forget Old & In The Way- one of the top, all-time, selling bluegrass albums- which featured Vassar Clements, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, and John Kahn (of course.) What an amazing record that was. Here’s a YouTube of their performance of “Wild Horses” (no actual video on this, just audio):

Beginning in the 80s, the Jerry Garcia Band began to stabilize as a regular project. Organist, Melvin Seals signed on and they found a sound and stuck to it. Mixing eclectic covers of Motown hits, Dylan songs and more with select originals from Garcia’s solo albums (and even a couple that had caught on the The Grateful Dead) they put on a great show.  Here’s a clip of JGB playing Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue” in 1990:

BTW, if you like that clip, go pick up the DVD here.

If anyone actually regularly read this blog they’d know that updated nine days in a row is actually a rare display of commitment. Last year’s Jerry Week didn’t make all 9 days mostly because I’m what’s commonly known as a slacker. Oh well.

That having been said, for today’s post, I thought I’d share some vague and unorganized thoughts about  The Grateful Dead. I’m going to pu ton a tune and write on it for a few… And to stifle the collective yawns from my readership, I’m going to stream that music here from the get-go so you can listen while you read.

The above show (1982-08-06) is one that I got on tape more than 15 years ago. The “Bird Song” is a long standing favorite.  (Go ahead, skip right to it.) The recording may not be the crispest ever but the playing is on point. Brent’s keys rig out and his voice warmly complements Jerry’s plaintive vocals. This song, written in memory of Janis Joplin can be heartbreaking. It is shot through with longing and the benefit of hindsight before offering the advice to clutch tightly those special few for whom time is likely short. Slipping pas the verses, Jerry begins to stretch and explore the theme. This is Grateful Dead music at its most perfect. Loose, slippery, on the cusp of flying out into oblivion but still hanging two wheels on the tracks as it rounds each twist and turn.

When asked, in the latter half of his career, why the Grateful Dead seldom played “Dark Star”, Jerry replied that there is a little bit of “Dark Star in almost everything they play. This is keenly apparently on any decent version of this song. I recall seeing “Bird Song” at a show at Hampton Coliseum. It utterly swept me up and carried me away. I can still find myself back on that floor, dancing about; egoless. And I remember stirring out of my trance as Jerry brought the lyrics back around for a reprise and repeated the line, “snow and rain,” like a mantra. It held no great meaning for me then but it still carved an impression into my consciousness. I’ve since ran with a few interpretations of the full line,

“Tell me all that you know, I’ll show you snow and rain.”

Share with me that which you’ve learned in this life and I’ll offer what I know of the elements, snow and rain, cold and sorrow, death and grieving and comfort. I love hearing “Bird Song” with Brent.  His high harmonies on the refrain give me chills…

“Don’t cry now
Don’t you cry
Don’t you cry any more
Sleep in the stars
Don’t you cry
Dry your eyes on the wind.”

Until tomorrow…

btw… The delay on this post is due to a recent upgrade to WordPress and me trying to adapt to the new editor ‘features’.