Six String Sanctuary

Dave Daniels, and the joy of discovery

2011-10-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Atlanta contributor Mike Tierney has never played a vibraphone. Heck, he probably never even heard of Lionel Hampton! But he is a musical vibemeister with unnaturally ecletric (yep, we just coined a word for the urban dictionary) taste. Do not miss his occasional musings at the Sanctuary.

By Mike Tierney

One of the unadulterated joys of rock 'n' roll is stumbling blindly into a gifted under-the-radar musician in your town and going "Holy moly" -- or, more likely, holy bleep -- "this dude can really play."

In metro Atlanta recently, I was introduced in to Dave Daniels, who offered that he had a band and invited me to see them perform. With modest expectations, I caught Daniels at a free show in a neighborhood establishment.

A few songs into the set, I'm thinking, "Shouldn't this guy be pulling in 15 to 20 bucks a ticket at some semi-spacious venue?"

Then I reminded myself that there are hundreds of Dave Daniels from sea to shining sea who generate sounds as impressively as the artists who make a comfortable living at it. That dynamic illustrates the yin and yang of the business. It might be unfair to the creators, but listeners can dig up hidden treasures without much effort.

Daniels crafts clever tunes that cover a wide spectrum, with sprinklings of folk and jazz and country and blues. If you are a prisoner of pop music, as I am, you are continously amazed at the talent on a level where players must maintain day jobs to support their muse.

The other day, I punched up Daniels' website to check on upcoming gigs, only to read that he is cutting back drastically on shows. "Trying to make a living off my own music actually hinders my life," he explained.

Such a painful transition is inevitable for the bulk of musicians who brighten clubs and bars and basements with their art.

Here is hoping Daniels gets his moly together, reassembles his teammates and cranks out more songs for more audiences.

If not, well, there are plenty more Dave Daniels coming down the pipe. It is all part of rock 'n' roll's circle of life.

A whole lotta love for Wilco

2011-10-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

If you watch this video of Wilco performing on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series and don't go out immediately and buy their new album, well, you can't blame us.

The Whole Love is sounding like the best we've heard from Jeff Tweedy & Co. NPR's Bob Boilen calls Wilco "the best rock band in America," which is begging for an argument, but he won't get one here. There are four songs and more than 18 minutes to help convince you.

Those who know us are aware that when Uncle Tupelo disbanded in 1994 and split into two groups we stubbornly aligned ourselves with UT's leading protagonist, Jay Farrar, and his new band Son Volt -- largely on the strength of Trace, one of the best albums of 1995. When Tweedy and Wilco countered with A.M. a rivalry was born, tipping heavily in Farrar's favor at the start.

We eventually decided it was OK to appreciate both artists, and it didn't hurt when Wilco began to kick out some memorable albums. The turning point actually came in 1998 with a joint effort (how could that not be a success?) when Billy Bragg dragged Wilco into the studio to help produce Mermaid Avenue, a splendid album of songs born out of old Woody Guthrie lyrics.

But it wasn't until the release of the band's fourth album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in 2002 that Tweedy and Wilco began to gain their now mythic foothold on American rock. That stood as our favorite until 2009's Wilco (The Album). And now, here we are, singing the praises of The Whole Love like it's the best thing that ever came down the pike. This will require further review, which we're more than up for.

They're coming to take him away

2011-10-16T06:07:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

A novelty himself,
Sunday contributor Al
Tays knows a little bit
about whacky songs.

Six million record buyers were responsible for Rick Dees' "Disco Duck" going to the top of the Billboard singles chart on this date in 1976.

I am proud to say I was not one of them.

It's not that I have anything against novelty songs -- I think that's the most interesting music genre.

But "Disco Duck" just ... sucked.

You wanna talk good novelty songs? The problem is not so much where to begin, but where to stop.

I mean, "Weird Al" Yankovic should have his own sub-category. "Lose Yourself," "E-Bay" and "The Hardware Store" are classics, and "Genius in France" is to novelty songs what "Stairway to Heaven" is to classic rock.

As a kid, I remember listening to "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor," "They're Coming to Take Me Away," and "The Jolly Green Giant." That last one is still on my iPod.

In adulthood, I discovered other gems such as "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago," "Valley Girl" and, of course, "Fish Heads."

In researching this subject, I came across a song I've never heard, but which might have the best title of all time:

"I'm at Home Getting Hammered (While She's Out Getting Nailed)"

Now THAT'S songwriting.

TGI...C

2011-10-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

It's Friday, and once you click on this it only gets better...

The song Stephen Colbert is singing sounded vaguely familiar, but we admit we didn't recognize "Friday" until we did a search. Even then, the name Rebecca Black didn't immediately click -- even though we wrote about her hated video some time ago.

Colbert does such a great job we were thinking the song must be something from a popular group like the Smashing Pumpkins. It isn't, but Colbert certainly is smashing himself as he pays off a bet he lost with Jimmy Fallon.

Catchin' that Yelawolf fever

2011-10-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

By Robert Nelson

You can ask Sanctuary rapconteur
Robert Nelson what's in his player,
just don't ask him what's in the trunk.

I discovered Yelawolf through my friend Stan. He told me Eminem signed him to his label and mentioned he’d seen him on BET’s The Cypher. So, that’s where I started, and there was plenty more on YouTube. Then, I bought the Trunk Muzik mixtape on iTunes, and I’ve been listening to it for the past 10 or 11 months.

I usually keep a pretty tight rotation of new music circulating in my car. In the past year, it’s been mostly Trunk Muzik. I continue to develop a new favorite song. It started with Daddy’s Lambo, then Box Chevy, Pop the Trunk, and now, Love is Not Enough. If I’m picky, I might skip through one or two tracks, but it rides from top to bottom. It’s the CD I leave in the deck when there’s nothing else I want to hear. You might say I’m enamored with it.

Guests include Raekwon, Gucci Mane and Bun B over a blend of hip-hop and dirty south beats. Yelawolf raps circles around them with a syrupy twang delivery as dynamic as I’ve ever heard. Despite the proliferation of Southern artists within the genre over the past decade, he’s managed to maintain a distinct point of view and proves capable of incorporating popular hip-hop storytelling elements into his narrative in a fresh, palatable way.

He’s performing Oct. 19 in Minneapolis at First Ave in support of his major label debut, entitled Radioactive, due Nov. 21. I’m not really wild about the first single but anticipating the record nonetheless. I’ll let you know how the show goes. I’m looking forward to that, too.

Imagine John Lennon at 71

2011-10-09T00:16:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

Pretty amazing day today for music-related birthdays. We have John Entwhistle, who would have been 67 (he died in 2002), and Jackson Browne, 63.

But one other birthday dwarfs those: John Lennon.

Lennon, who was murdered in 1980, would have turned 71 today. (He would have shared his birthday with Sean Lennon, his only child with Yoko Ono, who turns 36 today.)

What can you say about John Lennon that most people don't already know? Let's concentrate on the day he came into the world. He was born at Liverpool Maternity Hospital, his parents were Julia and Alfred Lennon, and he was named John Winston Lennon after his paternal grandfather, John "Jack" Lennon, and then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Couple pieces of Lennon trivia: He ocasionally played bass on Beatles songs, using a six-string Fender BassVI on some songs where Paul McCartney was playing piano. And he hated his own singing voice, often asking producer George Martin to help it electronically.

Watching this clip, I think he was too hard on himself. Happy birthday, John.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLoqGuhuo9Y

Baby steps

2011-10-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

By Robert Nelson

Quick, hide the stash: Baby DJ (wearing red cap) checks
out the tour bus with Pete, Sam and Dean of Chevelle.

During my freshman year in college, my buddy Ta and I bought tickets to see Filter in Minneapolis. It didn’t happen. The lead singer checked into rehab and cancelled the tour. So, when I found out they were coming to town with Bush and Chevelle, naturally, I thought of inviting Ta to go with me. We were all Bush fans in high school. Filter would be a huge perk. And Chevelle … well, let’s say they made this experience unlike any I’ve had before.

My DJ career is still in its infancy. It’s not uncommon for me to be referred to as “Baby DJ” around the office. It’s cool. It’s not meant to be disparaging in any way (at least, I don’t think it is). In fact, I’ve received more support from my radio family than I could have ever imagined. Still, when my boss offered to let me conduct my first artist interview with Chevelle before the show last night, apart from being totally elated, the confidence instilled in me got taken to a whole new level.

I walked into the nearly empty venue to find Filter on stage sound-checking “Take a Picture.” That’s when shit got real. I understand, now, why kids line up outside so early before a concert. On the off chance you can catch a glimpse of or hear just a little bit of your favorite band warming up, why wouldn’t you? With nobody else around, it’s so intimate, like they’re performing in your living room. When they started “Welcome to the Fold,” James, Chevelle’s tour manager, approached and took me backstage to meet the band.

Actually, he escorted me to the back of the club and outside to their bus. They’d definitely been living in it for a while. It was in the same sort of disrepair as my bedroom, comfortably disheveled. Pete, the lead singer, sat waiting, flipping through his phone. He seemed somewhat distracted at first. The business of prepping their new record for release in December weighed heavily on his mind. As I set up my equipment, his brother Sam, the drummer, stepped out and helped break the ice. They told me about a recent trip to Vegas where, at 4 a.m., some chick was trying to seduce Pete and his extremely hot wife. Happens to me all the time.

I think the interview went fairly well, not without its moments, but the good news is I got it out of the way, hopefully, to the boss’ satisfaction. I was, then, immediately ready for a drink and a smoke and a kick-ass rock show. All of which were conquered, in that order, with several more drinks and a couple more smokes. Ta showed up just before Filter took the stage, and it felt like high school again. The Baby DJ’s learning to walk.

Follow the musical musings and escapades of Baby DJ on Wednesdays at Six String Sanctuary.

Pssst: Ryan Adams rises above Ashes

2011-10-03T00:39:00.000-07:00

Do yourself a favor. Put on a set of headphones and click here.

What you'll be doing is taking a beautiful trip through the gentle peaks and valleys of Ashes and Fire, the latest -- and possibly the greatest album yet -- from Ryan Adams. This is a First Listen freebie from NPR, so enjoy the ride. Don't let yourself be interrupted.

We've been fans of Adams since his barnstorning alt-country days with Whiskeytown. Come to think of it, that may have been our problem. While nursing the hangover that was the breakup of our favorite band, we were slow to embrace Adams' early solo work, good as it was. Part of our hesitation was the troubled artist's tendency to self-destruct while he was churning out a confounding catalog of music -- some of it very good, but just too damn much of it. Does that make any sense? We wouldn't have been surprised by a tragic outcome.

Happy to say, with Ashes and Fire, everything has come into focus. We've gone from fans to disciples, and we need to start by thanking Adams, who appears to have grown more as a person than an artist during his two-year hiatus. He already had the songwriting and musicianship down. What happened to him? Life lessons and love. He fell in love, really fell in love, as the writing in Ashes and Fire clearly reveals. We don't believe you can write "I Love You But I Don't Know What to Say" without discovering answers about life and love along the way.

I was lost I was lost
I tried to find the balance and got caught up in the cost
I let it go when I met you
The clouds inside me parted and all that light came shining through

I promise you I will keep you safe from harm
Love you all the rest of my days
When the night is silent and we seem so far away
Oh I love you but I don't know what to say

Adams, who is now married and finally clean, also had to deal with a painful inner-ear affliction that made music-making virtually impossible. We're sure it's all much more complicated than that, but the results are crystal clear. Ashes and Fire, produced by Glyn Johns and due out Oct. 11, is one of the best albums we've heard this year. It's going up on the big board as Personal Six String Sanctuary Tout (PSSST) No. 25.

Much LeDoux about cowboys

2011-10-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

Chris LeDoux was a true cowboy.

By Al Tays

We're mighty happy
those cowboy boots
didn't fit Al Tays --
not that he doesn't
know a good ropin'
song when he hears it.

During my country and western period (1990-95, when I lived in Atlanta and decided to "go native") one of my favorite songs was Chris LeDoux's "Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy?" in which he's joined by Garth Brooks. I don't listen to C&W radio anymore, so I hear that song only when the shuffle function on my iPod cues it up. But the witty lyrics, zippy fiddle and catchy tune never fail to make me smile. And I think about how LeDoux wasn't just a guy with a hat singing about cowboys -- he really was one. He won the world bareback riding championship at the National Finals Rodeo in 1976.

And then I think what a shame it is that Chris LeDoux died before his time.

Born on this date in 1948, LeDoux was 51 in 2000 when he was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a chronic liver disease.

He had to have a liver transplant. Brooks volunteered to be a donor, but his tissue was incompatible. LeDoux underwent a transplant from another donor later that year. Four years later he was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, cancer of the bile ducts, and died on March 9, 2005.

Shorty after LeDoux's death, Brooks recorded the song "Good Ride Cowboy" as a tribute. "I knew if I ever recorded any kind of tribute to Chris, it would have to be up-tempo, happy ... a song like him ... not some slow, mournful song," Brooks said in an interview with CMT. "He wasn't like that."

Thinking about LeDoux and "Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy?" got me thinking about how many songs with "Cowboy" (or "Cowgirl") in the title are among my favorites. And make no mistake -- I'm no cowboy. This Boston tenderfoot (literally) tried wearing cowboy boots in Atlanta and found them to be the most uncomfortable things he ever put on his feet. And I'm allergic to horses. But I love these songs:

Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy? (Chris LeDoux and Garth Brooks)
The Cowboy Tune, also known as The End is not in Sight, (Amazing Rhythm Aces)
Honky-Tonk Stardust Cowboy (Jonathan Edwards)
Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys (Willie Nelson)
King of the Cowboys (Amazing Rhythm Aces)
Should've Been a Cowboy (Toby keith)
What the Cowgirls Do (Vince Gill)

Three verses to go

2011-09-30T00:34:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I received the biggest boost ever for a song when my brother-in-law Mike heard me play "Red Dress" -- which has only three verses (so far) and no bridge -- and said it would have been perfect at the end of the Jeff Bridges film Crazy Heart. Well he is an old schoolboy friend married to my sister, after all. And Bridges, while no slouch as a singer and musician, is not quite Bob Dylan.

And neither is Donovan, who drew those inevitable comparisons when he came up through the British folk scene in the Sixties. We mention this because it was on this date in 1965 that Donovan made his U.S. television debut on Shindig! Looking back at him performing "Catch the Wind" we see a poised young songwriter with a positive vibe that would soon play to his laid-back, flower child persona. We also see some really bad fake trees.

In the chilly hours and minutes
Of uncertainty, I want to be,
In the warm hold of your loving mind

To feel you all around me
And to take your hand, along the sand
Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind

When sundown pales the sky
I wanna hide a while, behind your smile
And everywhere I'd look, your eyes I'd find

For me to love you now
Would be the sweetest thing, 'twould make me sing
Ah, but I may as well, try and catch the wind

When rain has hung the leaves with tears
I want you near, to kill my fears
To help me to leave all my blues behind

For standin' in your heart
Is where I want to be, and I long to be
Ah, but I may as well, try and catch the wind

A beautiful song by a great artist. But what was it like battling those Dylan comparisons? Donovan gave this thoughtful response in a 2001 interview with BBC:

"The one who really taught us to play and learn all the traditional songs was Martin Carthy—who incidentally was contacted by Dylan when Bob first came to the UK. Bob was influenced, as all American folk artists are, by the Celtic music of Ireland, Scotland and England. But in 1962 we folk Brits were also being influenced by some folk Blues and the American folk-exponents of our Celtic Heritage...

"Dylan appeared after Woodie [Guthrie], Pete [Seeger] and Joanie [Baez] had conquered our hearts, and he sounded like a cowboy at first but I knew where he got his stuff—it was Woodie at first, then it was Jack Kerouac and the stream-of-consciousness poetry which moved him along. But when I heard "Blowing In The Wind" it was the clarion call to the new generation – and we artists were encouraged to be as brave in writing our thoughts in music...We were not captured by his influence, we were encouraged to mimic him—and remember every British band from the Stones to the Beatles were copying note for note, lick for lick, all the American pop and blues artists—this is the way young artists learn.

"There's no shame in mimicking a hero or two—it flexes the creative muscles and tones the quality of our composition and technique. It was not only Dylan who influenced us—for me he was a spearhead into protest, and we all had a go at his style. I sounded like him for five minutes—others made a career of his sound. Like troubadours, Bob and I can write about any facet of the human condition. To be compared was natural, but I am not a copyist."

That's good enough for me. So is "Catch the Wind," which Donovan completes in five verses without a bridge, just a short harmonica flourish. I'm halfway home.

Movie review in a music blog: Drive

2011-09-28T00:09:00.000-07:00

By Robert Nelson

We plan to reward Twin Cities
contributor Robert Nelson for
doing double duty this week
by reimbursing his fiancé for
her portion of the bill.

I love movies. I can get into a Rom-Com as easily as an action flick. I enjoy art-house as much as grindhouse. I’ll give anything a fair shake, but I hate crap. So when my buddy Kevin, who shares a similar, perhaps even more rabid flair for cinema, told me Drive was the best movie he’d seen all year, the fiancé and I decided to split the bill on dinner and a movie Friday night.

I thought it was another Fast and the Furious cash cow, but it’s not. They’re just selling it totally wrong. What you see in the trailers is really the backdrop for the main character. The plot evolves into a violent, romantic tragedy delivered in this moody, nuanced tone that calls to mind a litany of influences within a style entirely its own. It’s visually compelling, performances are stellar all around, and punctuating it all is the eeriest score since Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood (composed by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood; Drive’s composer: one-time Red Hot Chili Pepper Cliff Martinez who also composed Pump Up the Volume, the movie that made me want to be a DJ).

The title song, “Nightcall” is by French house DJ Kavinsky and features Lovefoxxx, a Brazilian indie singer of German, Portuguese and Japanese decent. She delivers breathy, surfer chic vocals over a slow, haunting synth beat that totally captures the pace and cadence of the film. “Under Your Spell” by Desire, a producer-drummer-singer trio, evokes similar notions with a bit more rising action and even more melancholy. It’s a strange amalgamation of electro-synth-pop on Ambien and coke. Also heard in the film, “A Real Hero” by College featuring Electric Youth, which reminded me instantly of “Mouthful of Diamonds” by Phantogram; both are great tunes.

If you haven’t heard of any of these artists, you aren’t alone. Kevin said he might go buy the soundtrack, something he hasn’t done in a long time. I plan to dig a little deeper into their respective bodies of work, first, maybe go scavenging through iTunes or Grooveshark before I make a purchase. We can agree on one thing, however: Drive is the best movie of 2011.

Pssst: Mercury rising for Pieta Brown

2011-09-27T00:29:00.000-07:00

Let us tell you how much we enjoy Pieta Brown's new album Mercury, which is out today on Red House Records. Once we heard it we immediately checked her tour schedule to find the closest venue to our home here in Milwaukee. There is simply no way we're going to miss her this fall. Not the way this music sounds.

There are no dates in Wisconsin, so it'll be an enchanting October Saturday night in Iowa City, Iowa, and do not doubt such a possibility exists. Brown has roots in Iowa, after all, and the Englert Theatre is the perfect place for her CD release show. And for kickers, Iris DeMent is there a night earlier to help celebrate the theatre's 99th anniversary.

Lucky us. And lucky you, if you can make it there or anywhere along the tour to catch the brightest new star in Americana music. (Sadly, not everyone has recognized this. Even our hometown newspaper, which tries be musically hip, ignores Mercury in its weekly New CDs feature while mentioning releases by Maria Muldaur, LeAnn Rimes, Daryl Hall, Switchfoot, Chickenfoot, et al.)

Brown, daughter of troubadour Greg Brown (who recorded Pieta's tender "Remember the Sun" on his new album Freak Flag), has come into full bloom as an artist. She has always had a dreamy, sensual voice with a magnetic pull. And now, on Mercury, we hear lyrical poetry that begins to set her apart from the best in the genre.

Tonight I’m dancing alone
The world left me on my own
I’m not the first
I’m not the last
Rolling stone

There are several gems on the 13-song Mercury, but none more magical than "How Much of My Love." You would love to have this dance with her, but she is confident and content to do it alone. A true rolling stone, as we have suspected since we heard her for the first time years ago at a smoky dive in Minneapolis. Guitarist Bo Ramsey was with her that night and has accompanied her most of the way. His contributions are evident on Mercury, along with those of bassist Glenn Worf, drummer Chad Cromwell, multi-instrumentalist David Mansfield and Mark Knopfler ("So Many Miles.") It is Knopfler who calls Brown's singing "effortless and natural, like rain on earth."

Mercury was recorded in three days in a studio near Nashville, where producer Richard Bennett (Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Knopfler) was clearly moved. "Pieta's songs and melodies are beautiful, mystical, at times, frightening," Bennett wrote. "Among the many miracles about Mercury are those disarming vocals, recorded live as Pieta was also playing some very righteous guitar. Records are not made this way anymore and there aren't many artists capable of pulling that sort of thing off for three days running or even just one song. Most artists aren't Pieta Brown."

No they aren't, and Mercury is all the proof you need. It's time for Personal Six String Sanctuary Tout (PSSST) No. 24, Brown's second album to make the big board. We expect there will be more, and by then the rest of the world will surely know of this stunning jewel.

Does bubblegum lose its flavor?

2011-09-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

Yep, our guy Al Tays is right:
Susan Dey (front right) was
pretty much the ONLY reason
for us guys to watch
The Partridge Family.

By Al Tays

Now THIS is an anniversary: On this day in 1970, the first episode of The Partridge Family was shown on U.S. TV. The idea came from the Cowsills, a REAL musical family. Apparently the original plans were to use the Cowsill kids, but that was dropped because they weren't TRAINED ACTORS.

You know, I think if someone had told me I was losing a role because Danny Bonaduce was a better actor, I might have gone right over the edge.

As for the other Patridges, well, let's just say that like most males, I paid a lot more attention to Susan Dey than to David Cassidy. I'm not sure I even knew what an overbite was, but on her, it looked good.

The Partridges' biggest hit was their 1970 release, "I Think I Love You," which made it to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Don't remember? Click here. (And this is a good place to note that only Cassidy and Jones actually sang on the early recordings.) C

Overall, the Partridges released an astounding 89 songs on eight albums. That is a heck of a lot of bubblegum.

The new X games

2011-09-22T00:02:00.000-07:00

We had to check out The X Factor last night. HAD TO. Simon Cowell back in the saddle with a new show? And no Ryan Seacrest? We're there, if only for half of the two-hour premiere. Hey, it's a school night.

One pet peeve about American Idol is its limited age group. Why not give an old rocker a chance to show up the kids? (X Factor has four categories: Girls, Boys, Over 30s and Groups.) So while we we're waiting for that old rocker to appear a spunky 13-year-old, Rachel Crow, comes onstage and we immediately become fans of the kiddie corps. Rachel wins over the judges and audience with an audition more memorable than just about anything seen on Idol. Give her the $5 million now and we're outa here!

Another incredible moment is supplied by Stacy Francis, a 42-year-old single mom with two young kids who says "This is my last shot ... the time is now. I don't want to die with this music in me, Simon." She belts out an amazing rendition of Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman" that has nearly everybody spilling tears. Even our no-run mascara springs a leak. Simon, who has often played the bad cop but probably knows musical talent better than all of the judges on all of these shows, proclaims: "One of the best auditions I have ever heard in my life." Well, it's his show and he'll up the ante any way he can.

It isn't all good. Dan and Venita, a married couple ages 70 and 83, sing a dreadful "Unchained Melody" that leaves the judges unhinged, and they trot out some other freak shows just for shock value. The last performer is a recovering meth addict who sings an original song "Young Homie," that we're truly sorry we missed.

We're guessing X Factor will be BIG, with us or without us. Probably without us, at least until baseball is over. We're also guessing (hoping) that Rachel and Stacy will be around for awhile, so we'll have somebody to root for when we check back.

Foo in review: St. Paul rocked

2011-09-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

By Robert Nelson

It's true, Woody did the wave.
At a Foo Fighters concert. The wave.
And it was ... cool.

I ended up going to the Foo Fighters concert in St. Paul last week. We got in line for beer just in time to hear their first song. It was 8:30, which seemed insane until we left the arena at 11:30. For nearly three full hours, we rocked.

They played a cool hour and a half of notable tunes, pulling deeply from their new stuff before they got into the hits. That was the second half of the evening. Twice, somewhere in the middle of the night and again at the encore, Dave Grohl performed from the center of the floor on a small platform that elevated a good thirty feet into the air. The second time around, it was acoustically and without the band. This was the only part of the night they let us catch our breath. That’s when we did “the first ever wave at a Foo Fighters show.”

The wave doesn’t seem like a terribly rock ‘n’ roll thing to do, at first, and I think that’s why Grohl prompted us to go for it. It’s so un-rock ‘n’ roll that by doing it, we were rockin’ in the face of rock ‘n’ roll, and were thus, more rock ‘n’ roll than if we hadn’t rocked it out to begin with.

That's the Foo Fighters. Check out the video above. The wave’s at 4:25.

A Junior moment

2011-09-18T00:04:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

The Sanctuary condones
quitting your job and
driving across the
country like Al Tays,
especially if you get
to see Junior Brown
somewhere along the way.

Mrs. Assistant Music Blogger and yours truly have been semi-crazy about Junior Brown since we stumbled upon him on Austin City Limits while channel-surfing one haze-filled late-1980s night in Fort Lauderdale. We had no idea who this goofy-looking guy with a Blues Brothers suit and a Quickdraw McGraw cowboy hat was, and we SURE as heck didn't know what that double-necked guitar-like contraption was that he was playing, but DAMN, was he ever playing it!

Some research revealed that his name was Jamieson "Junior" Brown, he was from Indiana but had moved to Austin and become a guitar legend. Actually, he became a "guit-steel" legend, as that was the name he had given to his fusion of the neck and pickups from a Fender Bullet electric guitar and a lap-steel guitar.

We bought his CDs and fell in love with his blend of twangy-country witty lyrics ("you're wanted by the po-lice and my wife thinks you're dead") and greased-lightning fretboard work. When you listened to Junior, you weren't just listening to Junior. Through the riffs in his various medleys, you were listening to Hendrix, Page, Clapton, et al. When I moved to California, one of the first things I did was take my car out onto the Pacific Coast Highway, put the top down and crank up the volume on Junior's ode to the Ventures, "Surf Medley." I told friends that the karma was so intense, my head almost exploded.

We had a chance to see Junior once. He was opening for the Mavericks at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. We were running late, but weren't worried, because no concert ever starts on time, right? Wrong. Apparently the ones in casinos do, because when we walked in a half-hour late, Junior was already gone.

A second chance presented itself last week. We were moving back to Florida from LA, driving across the country. As luck would have it, Junior was playing in Austin, at the place he got his start, the Continental Club, on the night we were scheduled to stay in that city. We drove 10 hard hours from Las Cruces, NM, hoping we wouldn't get shut out again. We were just a few minutes late, but Junior and his band were delayed, so we didn't miss a thing. We stood at the bar, maybe 20 unobstructed feet from the stage, drinking the Continental's homemade ginger ale (and a Lone Star beer, just for authenticity).

Junior obliged with all the crowd's favorites, even taking requests. When he was done with his 90-minute set, we followed the band to the back door and bought some T-shirts from his drummer (whose name, alas, is on a slip of paper somewhere well hidden among all the stuff that was jam-packed into our car). The guy manning the front door of the club reminded us that our $15 cover was not good for admission to see the night's headliner. Didn't matter to us. We had already seen our headliner, an experience we'll never forget.

Requiem for a rapper

2011-09-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Tupac Shakur: June 16, 1971-Sept. 13, 1996

By Robert Nelson

When I was in junior high, virtually all the boys in my class had divided into two giant gangs. Best friends were separated by allegiances. Guys who’d never spoken before became brothers watching each other’s backs. This went on for a month or so. On the day of the rumble, maybe 50 kids filled the hallway of the second floor, squaring off, ready for battle. When the first bell rang, the melee began: fists flying, bodies being tossed into lockers, and at the second bell, we scattered, laughing and talking trash. It was fantastic.

This was in the middle of the East Coast vs. West Coast rap rivalry, and a year or two after we read The Outsiders in grade school. Blame either, but we were just horsing around. Nobody got hurt. In fact, it was probably the last time we really unified as a class. Ah, the stories I could tell you.

In U.S. History class, I sat next to Jessica Morales. One day I showed up and she was crying. She had these high, strong cheekbones that lifted her smile, almost perky, and a single crooked tooth that could be completely distracting when you saw it, but on that day, was more conspicuous for its absence. Her hair was thick and long, and strands of it clung to the tears running over her lips. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me Tupac died. I don’t know if I ever spoke to her again. It was September 13, 1996.

In 1991, Pac was still a part of Digital Underground when they appeared in the movie “Nothing But Trouble” with Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Chevy Chase and Demi Moore. An abbreviated version of “Same Song” was featured in the film, and I ran out and bought “This is an EP Release” which included the full track with Tupac’s verse. That year, he released his first solo record 2Pacalypse Now. He was 20 years old.

Over the next five years, he released six studio albums, four of which were certified platinum (All Eyez on Me went 9x platinum), wrote enough material for as many posthumous albums, starred in as many movies, and in the 15 years since his death at 25 years old, has sold more than 75 million records. In 2010, he was inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry. His murder remains unsolved.

I watched a few 9/11 documentaries this weekend. Each touched on how quickly we seem to forget. I don’t remember how I felt when Jessica Morales told me Tupac died. I can recall everything about that moment but the feeling. It evolves. Tupac’s legacy is vast and rich and complicated, but that’s not so important to me. What matters is the feeling. Sometimes, it’s for the sake of nostalgia, sometimes it’s sorrow, but more often, it’s just because he was so good. The feeling is why he’s important. That’s music.

Join Twin Cities contributor Robert Nelson on Wednesdays at Six String Sanctuary and gain a temporary asylum for your soul.

A Big Fish story

2011-09-09T00:02:00.000-07:00

“I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him. I am glad we do not have to try to kill the stars.”

-- Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea

Not every big fish makes a splash:
Gavel Ridge's 2010 Big Fish
is under the radar but over the top.

Terry "Doc" Holliday does not sell wine produced at his fledgling vineyard in west central Wisconsin. Not before its time, not any time. It is made in extremely limited batches and reserved for the enjoyment of family and friends. (He did sell about half his Marquette grapes last fall, which helps pay for the fun he is having as a winemaker and grower, and he will do the same this year.)

But Doc, a research and development manager by trade, is quickly mastering his new craft. Perhaps the only thing keeping his 2010 Big Fish Marquette from becoming legendary is the fact that so few will have a chance to put their lips to it. Or perhaps that is why it WILL become legendary. Barely five cases were produced; only a dozen or so bottles remain. And Doc seems intent on killing the rest. His reasoning: If it's this good now, why not drink it?

Robert M. Parker Jr. will never have a chance to rank 2010 Big Fish, critics and aficionados will never discuss its immense possibilities, and Wine Spectator will never devote a spread to the tiny vineyard on Gavel Ridge. They will never know, and neither will you -- unless you join Doc and Patricia Holliday Saturday for the new Marquette harvest on the picturesque wind-swept hills north of Whitehall. Your reward: a Gavel Ridge T-shirt, and a chance to taste the jam-o-licious Big Fish before it disappears.

Already a curious story is circulating about the lush grapes of Gavel Ridge, a story that supports the ancient notion of grapes as an aphrodisiac. One area winemaker who bought Marquettes from Doc last year swears this is true: He gave a bottle of his wine to a brother, who shared it with his wife and later regaled a story of wild love-making that lasted through the night. Believe what you want, that winemaker has already placed his order for the new grapes.

We are very fortunate to have a bottle of Big Fish stashed away, and it might as well be the '61 Cheval Blanc from the movie Sideways. To paraphrase: The day we open that bottle of '10 Big Fish, that's the special occasion. We might even drink it out of a paper cup.

Leaving Rome

2011-09-08T00:12:00.000-07:00

Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble
Ancient footprints are everywhere ...

This ain't Lambeau Field: The Colosseum by day.

ROME, Italy -- There is only one way to leave Rome at 4:45 in the morning. By limo. A cab ride to the airport is no way to put the finishing touch on a brief, magical brush with the ancient city.

The streets were nearly empty as a new day began to flicker. The limo arrived at the Baglioni Hotel, exactly on time, with two Italian gentlemen dressed in white longsleeve shirts, ties and black trousers. The driver was slightly older, with thick black-rimmed glasses. (He could have been the guy driving the Charger in the car chase scene from "Bullitt," sans gloves.) The other man, riding shotgun, was much younger. He carried a clipboard and spoke English well enough for a conversation.

When the door to the limo opened you could hear music blasting through the speakers. This was not music to help ferry passengers around the city, but rather something to help these men get into the spirit of their work day.

We weren't expecting Emilio Pericoli singing "Al Da La," although that would have been a nice touch. The Band's version of Bob Dylan's "When I Paint My Masterpiece" (lyrics above) had been buzzing around in my head throughout our tour of the city the previous day, but again, the limo music hadn't been chosen for our listening enjoyment.

So what do a couple of sharp looking Italian men jam into the player before their first morning cappuccinos? The music du jour was the Allman Brothers, with Berry Oakley's instantly recognizable bass line to "Whipping Post" filling the limo and making, for a brief moment, this big old world seem just a little bit smaller.

Strumbum adds: I couldn't resist the Rome, Italy dateline. I mean, how many chances do you get?

Woody, briefly

2011-09-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

By Robert Nelson

It's Wednesdays with Woody at
the Sanctuary, where our intrepid
blogster is experimenting with the
short form.

As a follow-up to a post from a couple weeks ago (and because I didn't go), I'd like to direct you to Rolling Stone's review of the Pearl Jam 20th Anniversary festival that occurred this past weekend. It includes video of Chris Cornell joining the band to perform "Hunger Strike," which should completely blow your mind.

It's a 2-page review, so don't get so caught up in the video that you forget to finish the story. As a reward, they'll provide you with a link to the trailer for the Cameron Crowe documentary on Pearl Jam that hits theatres on the 20th (www.pj20.com).

Enjoy...

Labor Day state of mind

2011-09-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

It's Labor Day weekend and our favorite working class heroes -- the dedicated contributors to Sanctuary Nation -- have been too busy to post blogs. What's wrong with this picture? Thought we'd better scramble together a list of songs to show some solidarity for the working man.

Remember if you're stuck at work today or returning to the grind on Tuesday, at least you have a job. There are 14 million employable Americans who aren't earning a paycheck.

1. Working Man Blues, Merle Haggard
2. Take This Job and Shove It, Johnny Paycheck
3. Working for the Man, Roy Orbison
4. Maggie's Farm, Bob Dylan
5. Working Class Hero, John Lennon
6. Chain Gang, Sam Cooke
7. Welcome to the Working Week, Elvis Costello
8. Hard Day's Night, Beatles
9. Takin' Care of Business, Bachman-Turner Overdrive
10. 16 Tons, Tennessee Ernie Ford

Losing their grip

2011-09-02T00:50:00.000-07:00

By Mike Tierney

For music devotees, nothing approaches the nearly carnal experience of hearing a kick-ass song by an unknown artist for the first time, then setting aside everything -- work, family, food -- to research the band's background and its other offerings.

Mike Tierney
often gets stuck
between blogs,
but when he
delivers he's as
reliable as an old
Atlanta Journal
subscription.

One of those moments, for me, was triggered by "Stuck Between Stations" a well-paced pleasure of organized chaos by The Hold Steady from late 2007. Melodic, grinding guitars blend perfectly with a creative rhythym section and a helpful piano.

Geeky songwriter Craig Finn's half-sung, half-spoken vocals is an acquired taste that I have yet to fully acquire. But his thoughtful narratives, if tarnished slightly by a habit of repeating lyrics and themes, inject a mostly welcome flavor.
The boys passed through my town the other night, enthusiastically churning out 90 minutes for a crowd of under 1,000 that suggest their following has flattened out. That is hardly a surprise.

The band has painted itself in a box, which speaks to a challenge for any musical act nowdays. To get noticed, you must stake out a piece of ground that is unplowed. Once you claim it, how do you expand and grow?

Since the coming-out, the Hold Steady limited itself further by jettisoning the piano man. It is all bass, drums and guitars -- 2 1/4 of them, given that Finn strums only every now and then. Finn and lead guitarist Tad Kubler have a good enough ear to find some freshness in most numbers, and I am content if these guys keep stringing together crunchy chords until they have run out of combinations.

I suspect the vast musical audience, impatient by nature, will move on, even those among them who were bowled over by that breakthrough song, The audience last night skewed Gen X and Baby Boomer, making the average older than the onstage players. Not a good sign.

Most bands unable to advance to what the sports world calls The Next Level soon dissolve. This one might stick around awhile -- a new record is around the corner, which might provide a bump -- but I'm guessing we will not have The Hold Steady to kick-ass us around much longer.

That would be too bad. As a keepsake, though, we would have a nice body of work. And I will have the memory of my introduction to them through "Stuck Between Stations," a song for the ages.

Foo fight

2011-08-31T18:53:00.000-07:00

On September 14, Foo Fighters kick off their U.S. tour here in St. Paul. It’s a Wednesday, and the night jock at our station wants to go. I’m working his shift with him this week, so there’s a fair chance I’ll pick up those hours. I’ve been a DJ less than six months. This is a great opportunity for me, so if I get it, I have to take it, and moreover, I can’t blow it.

Join Robert Nelson for
Wednesdays with Woody, where
there is always Foo for thought.

I’ve seen the Foo Fighters twice before. The first time they opened for Bob Dylan with an entirely acoustic set and blew him off the stage. It was kind of embarrassing. The second time they headlined, but it was more humiliating. There was, let’s call it an incident before the show, and I ended up pouting through it. Nothing’s quite as sensitive as the male ego, and mine got stung.

As we found our seats, my admittedly clumsy girlfriend, who’s now my lovely fiancée, spilled a tiny splash of chardonnay on this belligerent whore in front of us. First of all, they give you those chintzy plastic cups, the same ones you get on an airplane, and you only fill them halfway because you know at any moment, the little kid in front of you could start jumping up and down in his chair, or the cow behind you might have to hit the latrine and pound you on his way to the aisle. That’s why they give you the cup and the can. They’re accidents waiting to happen. Second, we had our first drinks in hand, and this broad was gone, totally drunk, running her mouth, attacking my lady. A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do, so I let her have it. Verbally, I mean.

Well, as it turns out, my lady hates conflict, so she focused her frustrations on me, and I got upset about it. I tried as hard as I could to not enjoy the show. Damn near impossible. We’ve talked about making up for it since. I almost even postponed proposing until the 14th. Now, it’s in the boss’ hands. I know, it’s kind of a lame dilemma to have, but we’re talking about the biggest band in the world right now. They just made a promotional video for the tour called “Hot Buns,” set to Queen’s “Body Language.” You could call it a spoof of Queen’s original video, but the original is already a bit of a spoof. Anyway, it’s hilarious, and if you get a chance to see Foo Fighters while they’re on the road, do it.

They were gold, Jerry

2011-08-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

Does the name Jerry Leiber mean anything to you? Didn't to me, either, until I read his obituary after he died on Monday at the age of 78. Leiber was the lyrics half of the songwriting team that also included composer Mike Stoller.

If you've ever listened to 1950s rock and roll, you know Leiber and Stoller. The pair, who met in L.A. when Leiber was still at Fairfax High (a scant few blocks from the former West Coast HQ of Six String Symphony) wrote such hits as"Kansas City," "Love Potion No. 9," "There Goes My Baby," "Hound Dog," "Yakety Yak," "Stand by Me" (with Bedn E. King), "Charlie Brown," "Jailhouse Rock" . . . the list is seemingly endless. They also produced the 1972 Stealers Wheel classic, "Stuck in the Middle With You."

The team almost was broken up in 1956, when Stoller and his wife found themselves aboard the SS Andrea Doria when it was accidentally rammed and sunk by another ship. The Stollers were rescued, and when they got to New York Leiber met them and told them that "Hound Dog," which they had first written for Big Mama Thornton, had become a hit for Elvis Presley.

Tons of material to choose from, video wise, but for those who know "Jailhouse Rock" only from the Blues Brothers, let's check out the original Elvis version, shall we?

Every bridegroom's dream

2011-08-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

By Robert Nelson

Earth, Wind and Fire played Kim Kardashian’s wedding. It’s… wow. There aren’t words. I’m at a loss. Earth, Wind and Fire played Kim Kardashian’s wedding. That hurts to type. It’s just so unfair.

I’ve been watching more TLC lately. My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. Say Yes to the Dress. This news shouldn’t hit so hard.

I don’t give a squirt about the Kardashians. Okay, maybe one, but only by marriage. I’m a Laker fan, and believe me, nobody was more disappointed in Lamar Odom than me. I hoped that’s where it would end. I might be slightly on edge.

Oakley’s our new kitten. I bought him last week before I proposed to Jess. I put the ring around his collar. She said, “Yes.” We haven’t been getting much sleep. This morning, Oakley found something about my face worth scratching at relentlessly. If I threw him off the bed three times, he came back four. You shouldn’t throw cats.

My mom’s excited, but she broke her femur, and the hospital doesn’t get the E! channel. I guess they televised the Kardashian nuptials. That’s how I found out about Earth, Wind and Fire. When I was a teenager, she took me to see them at the Target Center with the O’Jays and the Isley Brothers. It’s in my Top Five, maybe even Top Three.

I can only imagine what kind of DJ we’ll have at our wedding. There’s a slim chance I’ll be completely satisfied. We could hire a band. They’ll have to know some Earth, Wind and Fire.

Making it Count

2011-08-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

Let's talk a little Count Basie, given that today marks 107 years since he was born in Red Bank, N.J., in 1904. Now, Basie's a little before my time (yes, such a thing is possible), but he is clearly in the first column of immortal American music artists.

You can always count on
Al Tays, but you really
have to wonder what sort
of trouble he might start
while Strumbum is out
on assignment (heh, heh).

There was a time when I wouldn't have known Count Basie from The Count on Sesame Street (except that only one of them dressed like a pimp, as Dave Chappelle points out). I got a little more curious about Basie after acquiring Tony Bennett's outstanding 2001 album, Playin' With My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues, which included "Old Count Basie Was Gone."

But it wasn't until the other day, noting the anniversary of Basie's birth, that I did some reading about him. Interesting nuggets: He might have become a drummer rather than a pianist, but there was another drummer in the Red Bank area, Sonny Greer, who reigned supreme and Basie decided not to challenge him, turning to the piano. Also, Basie learned how to play the organ from Fats Waller.

But enough talk. You can't appreciate Basie without hearing him. Even though "One O'Clock Jump" was, along with "April in Paris," one of his theme songs, I prefer this "Basie Boogie." It's one of the few Basie clips I could find with a guitar player, although this one is strictly consigned to a rhythm role. But no worries — good music is good music, no matter the instruments.

Jammin' with the Worm

2011-08-17T00:05:00.000-07:00

By Robert Nelson

Be sure to catch Wednesdays
with Woody, a midweek snack
served only at the Sanctuary.

This past weekend Dennis Rodman was deservedly inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Everyone knows Rodman, the gregarious, tattooed freak who married Carmen Electra and, most notably, himself (the most hideous bride ever). Fewer, fans of the game like me, know “The Worm,” the mercurial rebounding machine for the championship Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls. Far fewer know Dennis, whose heartfelt, albeit awkward, speech at the HOF ceremony was as touching as it was confounding. But the sentiment wasn’t lost on everyone. Not on me and probably not the guys from Pearl Jam.

In 1991, Worm was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in a row, and on August 27, Pearl Jam released their first album, Ten, and became the most commercially viable artists of the Grunge Era, often cited as the last great era in popular music (sorry, Latin Invasion fans). But from the early to mid-90s, it was a veritable smorgasbord of important music across genres. Metalheads got new Guns N’ Roses & Metallica in 1991. Grunge had Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and, of course, Pearl Jam. Rap came into its own with Tupac, B.I.G., and Snoop. Punk Rock gave us Green Day, and Funk Rock gave us the Red Hot Chili Peppers. To steal a phrase from Charlie Sheen, we were all “Winning.”

In 1996, the Bulls went 72-10, still the best single-season record in NBA history, and won their sixth championship. On August 27, Pearl Jam released No Code, though the band hardly toured to support it, spiteful of Ticketmaster. Around this time, the band befriended Dennis, who often cited their significance to him publicly. On stage at a rare show in September, Eddie Vedder gave Dennis a piggyback ride. That same month, Tupac was shot and killed, and in 1997, Worm played his last meaningful games as a Bull. Soundgarden broke up, and the Backstreet Boys debuted in America.

This September, Pearl Jam will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a concert in East Troy, Wisconsin. I might go, at least for the sake of nostalgia. There was never such a robust, eclectic selection for music lovers. Since then, borrowing from The Worm, you might say music is still on the rebound.

The beet goes on

2011-08-15T00:21:00.000-07:00

OK, so I am an old fart. I graduated from Whitehall High in 1969 and spent my first summer as a legal beer-drinking adult, first as a lifeguard at a resort in Wisconsin Dells and then -- because there was nobody to save in the pool -- painting barns in Iowa.

My new buddy Byron, who was a bellhop (or whatever they called 'em) at the resort, coaxed me into quitting and bolting to his hometown of Lansing, Iowa. There we worked with his grandpa, but it was his grandma I remember most for introducing me to boiled oxtail soup and beet wine. (Well, his sister was also fine.)

The beet wine is responsible for us missing out on some pretty historic events that summer. You know, the moon landing. Chappaquiddick. The Manson murders. Revelations about Mai Lai. Hurricane Camille. Hey, we were in Iowa. I don't remember seeing any TVs. The folks there were more concerned about their hogs and the corn crop. At night we hit that beet wine and the world just spun around.

My way of saying we definitely weren't aware of a concert in upstate New York that began on this day that summer. Who really was, other than the 500,000 who showed up for the "Aquarian Exposition"? If we had known, I'm guessing Byron and I would have loaded the car with jugs of beet wine and headed for Woodstock. If you think those acid trips were bad ...

Woodstock surprised everybody. I don't even remember when I realized the scope of it, probably after heading off for my first semester of college in La Crosse -- where Byron, his sister and I in a fit of boredom had driven up to watch True Grit at the Rivoli Theatre. John Wayne's only Oscar performance. Go Duke.

That was the most memorable event of my lost summer after high school. Music? We were boom-chick-a-booming to Johnny Cash's new album Live at San Quentin, on which "A Boy Named Sue" mentioned "kickin' and a gougin' in the mud and the blood and the beer."

Almost like Woodstock.

Bottoms up for Larry Graham

2011-08-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

Al Tays is the ace
of bass -- not to mention
rhythm and lead --
Sundays at the Sanctuary.

Here's wishing a happy 65th birthday to Larry Graham, former bass player for Sly and the Family Stone and founder of Graham Central Station. Graham is the baritone-voiced singer of the "Dance to the Music" lyric "I'm gonna add some bottom/so that the dancers just won't hide" followed by his signature slap-bass technique. Graham is considered a pioneer of slap bass, which is familiar even to non-music fans from the "Seinfeld" audio.

I've loved "Dance to the Music," with its one-at-a-time introduction of the band's instruments, since it came out in 1968 on Epic Records. Interestingly, the band didn't care for it. They thought it was a sellout, and they weren't entirely wrong. The song came about because producer Clive Davis wanted something more commercially acceptable than the band's previous work.

He got it. "Dance to the Music" went to No. 8 on the Billboard Pop Singles Top 10.

Of course, you can't judge a song strictly by what it does on the charts. Does anyone need reminding that "Achy Breaky Heart" got to No. 4? Anyone? Bueller?

But as the lyrics say, "Dance to the Music" makes it "easy to move your feet." So get up and dig it, y'all, while "all the squares go home."

Bon fires

2011-08-12T00:32:00.000-07:00

We were going to write a few simple words about homeboy Justin Vernon, aka Bon Iver, whose mystical musical path is one of the more fascinating success stories of recent years. Then we read a bio on Amazon.com that stopped us in our tracks. An excerpt:

First it was For Emma, Forever Ago. The soul in a refraction of icicles. A moment hanging like breath on air. And yet life – even still life – is not still. The story is not a story if it does not unravel. Your eyes you may cast backward, but the heart is locked in the chest and must beat forever forward. Bon Iver, Bon Iver is the frozen beast pressing upward from a loosening earth, one ear cocked to the echo of the ghost choir still singing, the other craving the martial call of drums tumbling, of thrum and wheeze. The desolation smoke has dissipated, cut with strips of brass. Celebration will not be denied, the cabinet cannot contain the rattle, there is meat on the bones.

A refraction of icicles? Thrum and wheeze? OK, we're never going to get a gig writing online blurbs. We thought Vernon was just a guy who went to a Wisconsin cabin alone in winter, recorded the sublime music that would become the 2008 breakout album Emma, For Ever Ago, and almost instantly became as famous as an Impressionist painter. Now we learn with his latest release that he has unleashed "a frozen beast pressing forward from a loosening earth." It's almost too much.

And all we really wanted to do this morning was pass along a list of Amazon.com's "Best Music of 2011 So Far" and congratulate our man for cracking yet another Top 10 (we're pretty sure this will make many year-end lists as well):

1. Foster the People, Torches
2. The Civil Wars, Barton Hollow
3. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues
4. Foo Fighters, Wasting Light
5. Adele, 12
6. The Decemberists, The King is Dead
7. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
8. My Morning Jacket, Circuital
9. Cut Copy, Zonoscope
10. Tune-yards, Whokill

The thrum and wheeze was recorded and mixed at a studio in Fall Creek, just up the road from our old hometown. So close, and these days it seems, so far away.

Have your cake and eat it too

2011-08-11T00:08:00.000-07:00

He sports tattoos, wears NBA jerseys, jocks at a Twin Cities rock station and still gets carded at bars. What's a nice kid like that doing in a joint like this? We shall see. Meet Robert "Woody" Nelson, the newest -- and easily the youngest -- former newspaper hipster to cue up at Six String Sanctuary. Good thing this isn't a No Smoking venue.

By Robert Nelson

A full Nelson: Our new guy fills the 18-35 demographic,
digs everything from jazz to hip-hop, and knows a good
dessert when he scoops one up. The real dish.

The Bailey’s Irish Cream Mousse Cake was delicious. Three layers of chocolate cake separated by two layers of mousse, and on top of a thin spread of rich chocolate frosting they sprinkled a thousand little curls of milk & white chocolate that looked like chopped walnuts and added a similar depth of texture. Truly magnificent.

Anyway, Jess and I were here for Sade.

Our ticket package included a couple drinks and some nosh at a pre-show cocktail party inside Target Center. The savory could have been better, but the liquor was hard and the aforementioned sweets, delectable, so by the time we found our seats we were primed for some good Soul. We’ve seen John Legend headline at a smaller venue. The guy doesn’t disappoint.

He played all the hits, one or two deep cuts, and a new tune, "Dreams," which, aside from the occasional swoon, hushed the arena. For a moment, we could have been at a Minnesota Timberwolves game. But when Legend turned it on again, going back and forth across the stage, to his piano, on top of it, he was dynamic. The man’s a pro. And his backup singers wore these flesh-toned tights that, at first glance, made them look straight out of King Magazine. This is what you get with a Grammy-winning undercard.

Now, Legend did his thing, but he wasn’t gonna steal the show. Did we say we were here for Sade? She is still more than capable of holding her own, and everything they say is true: sultry, sexy, even cute. And her voice. My god, her voice. Within the first few lyrics, you wonder how we haven’t achieved world peace or ended poverty or starvation. By then we’d all but forgotten about the cake.

Kudos to Jess for the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryt7PV2KcXc

We can dig it

2011-08-10T00:27:00.000-07:00

It's been three years since Isaac Hayes died after suffering a stroke in Memphis, Tennessee. He had been on a treadmill and was just 10 days short of his 65th birthday.

Now any day is a good day to celebrate the music and legacy of Hayes, as our buddy Bill "Psycho" Ward would attest. Bill delivers the best (well, most hilarious) white rendition of the "Theme From Shaft" we've ever heard. He's also a big fan of South Park, which used the voice of Hayes for its Chef character and uncorked the hilarious "Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)." Click on this link to hear the song, which topped the U.K. singles chart.

But it was the sheer badness of "Theme From Shaft" -- which won an Academy Award for Hayes in 1972 -- that made a lasting imprint on our brains. We went to a lyrics site to refresh our memories and discovered there have been 383 hits this week alone for "Theme From Shaft." Three-hundred and eighty three hits. It's barely Wednesday.

Can you dig it?

Kinda fonda Wanda

2011-08-08T00:26:00.000-07:00

The rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson was in the middle of a rip-roaring set at the Minnesota Zoo Saturday night when she paused to introduce her next number.

She said that when Jack White was producing her album The Party Ain't Over he asked her to record the Amy Winehouse song "You Know That I'm No Good." Jackson, 73, liked the the song but found some of the lyrics sexually explicit and age-inappropriate, a problem solved by White's rewrite of the offending second verse.

The song made the album, helping launch Jackson's spirited comeback, and Jackson became a fan of the troubled singer. She was planning to look up Winehouse during one of her frequent trips to England. Then Winehouse died suddenly at age 27.

"I'll never get to meet her," said Jackson, "but I'm going to keep playing this song."

Jackson and the Hillbilly Voodoo Dolls then launched into "You Know That I'm No Good" and the sky, as if on cue, opened up over the amphitheater. Some people scurried for cover but we hung in there and took the soaking, knowing it was just one of those moments that can't be explained but must be experienced.

Front row, bright glow

2011-08-07T00:13:00.000-07:00

David Bromberg put on a cosmic show Friday night in the venerable back room of McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. Our LA tuning fork, Al Tays, is still reverberating from the experience.

By Al Tays

What was I thinking, ignoring David Bromberg for more than 30 years? That's how long it had been since I last bought a Bromberg album (1975's Midnight on the Water), or attended a Bromberg show. Mrs. Assistant Music Blogger and I caught him at the New England Folk and Blues Festival in the early '80s, where I recall him being much more folk than blues and ending his set by telling the audience he had to get up early the next day to get to his violin-making class.

But all those years I kept my Bromberg albums (I also had Demon in Disguise, Wanted Dead or Alive and David Bromberg) until I no longer owned a turntable to play them on. Bromberg's covers of "Statesboro Blues," "Kansas City" and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry," plus his own "Danger Man" went on my iPod.

Then I finally saw him again, Friday night in LA.

Playing two sold-out sets at the legendary McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, Bromberg brought his typically eclectic mix of humor, folk, country and blues to an enthusiastic crowd of about 150. How enthusiastic? Bromberg didn't even have to sing the chorus to "I Like to Sleep Late in the Morning." We sang it for him. Most of us even knew the proper place to interject "Fingers do your stuff," and "See, this is bass and treble at the same time."

Like George Harrison, with whom Bromberg wrote "The Holdup," Bromberg, 65, can still make a guitar gently weep. But there's nothing gentle about his electric work on "I Will Not Be Your Fool" from 1976's "How Late'll Ya Play' Til?" I still have the burn marks from sitting in the front row. Welcome back, David.

A songwriting son of a gun

2011-08-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

It was about this time in 1964 that Roger Miller became a household name, soaring to the top of the Billboard country chart with "Dang Me." It was a crazy song for a crazy time, sandwiched as it was between Buck Owens' "Skip a Beat" and Jim Reeves' "I Guess I'm Crazy."

Miller was probably a touch crazy himself, enabling him to write other novelty hits such as "Chug-a-Lug," "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd" (a personal favorite) and "Do-Wacka-Do." But we cannot forget some of his other less-zany classics like "King of the Road" and "Walkin' in the Sunshine." He was truly one of Nashville's greats.

One mystery surrounding Miller is the origin of "Dang Me," which he claimed he wrote in 4 minutes while holed up in a Phoenix hotel room. But Johnny Cash said the lyrics came to Miller while the buddies were visiting the Joshua Tree in California. Johnny claimed Miller just got out the car with a pencil and paper and "Dang Me" was as good as done.

With both legends long gone we'll probably never know the true story. Either way it's a clever, funny song and you should do yourself a favor today by giving it a listen.

Swing for the fences

2011-08-04T03:52:00.000-07:00

C'mon people now, it's time to Rock for Kids (or another favorite charity).

We hadn't even heard of Rock for Kids before today, and already we're swinging for the fences with a chance to help a worthy cause. The non-profit's mission is to "provide music education to underserved children in Chicago, sparking creativity and passion, teaching critical thinking, supporting academic achievement and enriching young lives." All well and good, so once we learned this does not aid the Chicago Cubs in any way we were all in.

Here's the deal: State Farm has launched a Go to Bat promotion that offers participants a chance to win a trip to the 2011 World Series (hopefully for the first time at Miller Park). The real winners are the 44 participating charities, including Rock for Kids which we chose for its connection to the Sanctuary's overarching goal of saving the world through music. (What, you didn't know we had an overarching goal?)

Here's a link to the game, which you can play three times each day:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/sweepstakes/y2011/state_farm/gotobat/index.jsp?utm_source=mlb&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=confirmation

We hit 20 home runs in our first 30 pitches -- a nifty .606 clip -- but the Week 3 standings show Rock for Kids mired in 28th place. With your help we can move up the standings and maybe spread some musical love along the way. Just swing for the fences with us -- and watch out for that high cheese.

John, Paul, George and ... Jimmy?

2011-08-03T00:21:00.000-07:00

It looks like a "doctored" photograph, but that's really
Jimmy Nicol taking the place of Ringo. Too weird.

When Ringo Starr fell ill with tonsilitis and was hospitalized in early June of 1964, the Beatles had a problem. They could cancel the start of their tour, which was to begin in Scandanavia. Or they could hire a replacement drummer.

George Harrison voted to bag the tour, reportedly saying "if Ringo's not going, then neither am I. You can find two replacements." But Beatlemania was running rampant, and manager Brian Epstein and producer George Martin decided it was better to have an unhappy Beatle than a disgruntled fan base.

So Nicol, a session drummer who would later form the Shubdubs, filled in and played nine gigs before Ringo rejoined the group.

Nicol -- who turns 72 today -- wound up making a lasting imprint on the Beatles' music, though not as a drummer. When members of the band would ask Nicol how he was doing, he always answered "it's getting better." Which is a line Paul McCartney remembered when he began writing "Getting Better," a song that John Lennon collaborated on (adding "it can't get no worse") for Sgt. Pepper.

Along came sunshine pop

2011-08-02T00:29:00.000-07:00

Someone commenting on a different "Along Comes Mary" video wondered if 'Mary' referred to marijuana. Another replied that this was The Association, forget about drugs.

The clean-cut California band brought "sunshine pop" to the Sixties with hits like "Windy," "Cherish" and "Never My Love." We are not embarrassed at all to say we enjoyed their peppy music and sweet harmonies. And we were as surprised as anyone to learn that bass player Brian Cole died of a heroin overdose on this day in 1972. He was 29.

Who would have figured?

What's cool about this video from the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is that the intro has been included. And that intro, corny as it was, consists of Cole introducing the band members as musical robots. (He introduces himself as a "consisent low range modulator.") So we actually get to see the bass player we're writing about. How rare.

Pressed on the tiny Valiant label, "Along Comes Mary" put The Association on the map, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard chart in 1966. And, whether it references the evil weed or not (it probably does), it's our favorite song by the band.

Red necks and red lips

2011-08-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

Today is the 30th anniversary of MTV. We're nearly speechless.

We were already grizzled newspaper editors by 1981, which only meant that we had a natural dislike for everything, especially anything new. Showing music videos on TV was actually a cool concept, but we hardly noticed because we were working 80 hours a week and the rest of our time was spent watching sporting events, tuning into Sports Center -- which was only 2 years old -- and drinking heavily. Hey, we had reputations to uphold.

And MTV did just fine without us. They had an instant audience for "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles, which was how the network chose to pop its cherry. We don't remember the launch, much less what followed. If forced to declare our favorite MTV videos we'd settle on a couple of classics from 1985: "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" by the Georgia Satellites and Robert Palmer's exquisite "Addicted to Love," which couldn't be more different.

The truth is, those are the only ones we remember.

Plugging in to Newport

2011-07-31T00:03:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

Paste this link into a new window and listen up: http://www.npr.org/series/newport-folk-festival/

Join Al Tays for the first Sunday
at the Sanctuary "Name That
Acronym" contest. Hint: Newport
Folk Festival won't win. Clue:
What words might be used to
declare a fiddle ban.

Never made it to either Newport, R.I., music festival, Folk or Jazz, despite growing up near Boston, just a hop, skip and an ungodly traffic jam away. Didn't appreciate jazz until much later in life (thank you, Herbie Mann) and by 1971, when I was a senior in high school and just starting to venture beyond the local concert scene in Boston and Cambridge, the Newport Folk Festival closed up shop for several years, reopening in 1985.

Newport, with its beautiful harbor brimming with sailboats, is a wonderful place to do almost anything on a summer day, but listening to great roots music is one of the best things.

Unfortunately, Newport is best known for one of its darker days: the occasion in 1965 when Dylan had the audacity to play an electric set, backed by some members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

On Saturday, watching the live feed of this year's Newport Folk Festival on NPR.org (it continues through today), I noticed that some people are STILL angry about electric instruments being used. Hey, I was part of the Dylan-is-a-heretic movement back in the day, but we all evolve. What was it the "Willie Brown" character said to Ralph Macchio's acoustic-guitar-playing "Eugene Martone" character in "Crossroads"? "You got it all wrong. Muddy Waters invented electricity!"

Anyway, it's great to catch up with this venerable music celebration after all these years. Even if you've never seen it, it's worth a look. Check out that link if you haven't already.

10 cheers for beers

2011-07-28T00:59:00.000-07:00

According to a new Gallup Poll the popularity of beer is at a record low. Now you certainly wouldn't agree with the pollsters if you spent any time on a bar stool at Walter's on North in Wauwatosa, where the luminaries and cognoscentes of our fine community meet regularly to discuss topics of great interest. And to drain kegs and kegs of beer.

Positioned on our perches at Walter's we discuss the budget crisis, consider the plight of teachers, fret about Rickie Weeks' ankle injury and celebrate with great anticipation another Super Bowl run by our beloved Packers. But worry about the future of beer? Trust us, it's in good hands. Every day at Walter's is a celebration of what made Milwaukee famous.

So Gallup this: 10 of our favorite beer gulping songs (sorry, this is confined to BEER music):

1. There's a Tear in My Beer, Hank Williams
2. Beer Barrel Polka, Frankie Yankovic
3. What's Made Milwaukee Famous, Jerry Lee Lewis
4. Pop a Top, Alan Jackson
5. (Lookin' For) The Heart of Saturday Night, Tom Waits *
6. Red Necks, White Sox and Blue Ribbon Beer, Stonewall Jackson
7. A Six Pack to Go, Hank Thompson
8. In Heaven There is No Beer, Polkaholics
9. A Couple of Beers Ago, Dale Watson
10. I Hardly Ever Sing Beer Drinking Songs, Johnny Cash

* Since he was "cruisin' with six" it's obvious what was being consumed in that Oldsmobile

We hardly knew her

2011-07-26T00:05:00.000-07:00

Amy Winehouse: A talented, tortured soul.

When Amy Winehouse burst onto the music scene in 2006 we weren't paying attention, even though her sophomore album Back to Black possessed just the sort of kinetic energy and musical alchemy that should have won us over.

But we couldn't see the talent for the tabloid headlines. If you believed what was being written -- and much of it apparently was true --Winehouse was more than a trainwreck waiting to happen; she rarely stayed on the tracks at all.

Now that she's gone -- the newest member of the ghoulish 27 Club -- perhaps the most amazing detail to consider is that despite the remarkable commercial and critical success of Back to Black she never made another album. All that talent and just two albums in eight years.

Of the dozens and dozens of videos online, we recommend this clip of "Valerie" which captures the raw beauty of Winehouse's voice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6JRttxTBC8&feature=player_embedded

The opening words to "He Can Only Hold Her" from Back to Black provide a haunting farewell to an artist we never really knew:

He can only hold her for so long
The lights are on, but no one's home
She's so vacant, her soul is taken

When Trucks collide

2011-07-24T00:02:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

Although he accomplished
absolutely nothing on the
ballfield as a kid, Al Tays
did once whistle a puck past
lovely and beguiling hockey
goalie Manon Rheaume.

Given our blog founder's love of the Grand Old Game, we thought we'd do a little baseball/music combo this morning. In both worlds, the name "Trucks" commands enormous respect. Derek Trucks is, of course, the immensely talented guitarist associated with the Allman Brothers and various bands of his own. Virgil "Fire" Trucks was one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in the history of baseball.

Derek Trucks is the nephew of Allmans drummer Butch Trucks. Butch Trucks is Virgil Trucks' nephew. In an excellent 2010 column for MLB.com, longtime baseball writer Peter Gammons (who plays a mean Stratocaster himself) documented the 2008 meeting of Derek and Virgil.

Virgil wasn't very familiar with the musical legacy surrounding Derek. "I haven't listened to the Allman Brothers too much," the then-91-year-old told Gammons. "They don't play them much on the Birmingham (Ala.) station."

Derek knew about Virgil, however. He had one of Virgil's baseball cards on the back of his guitar. Another one of Virgil's cards has had a place on Butch Trucks' drum kit.

If Derek Trucks doesn't someday make the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they should burn the place down (which might not be a bad idea anyway). Virgil Trucks isn't in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but he put together some Hall-worthy accomplishments nevertheless.

How many pitchers do you know of who went 5-19 in a season, yet threw two no-hitters (and very nearly three)? If your answer is "one -- Virgil Trucks," congratulations. Pitching in 1952 for the Detroit Tigers, he no-hit the Washington Senators and New York Yankees (both 1-0 games). Trucks also threw four no-nos in the minors, and in 1938, in the Alabama-Florida League, he struck out 448 batters, the most K's ever recorded in a pro season.

Fortunately, there is no guitar equivalent of sabermetrics, so we can only appreciate a talent like Derek, not quantify him. There's so much video to choose from, but let's go with one from 1993 when he was only 13 years old, opening for the Allmans in Raleigh, N.C.

Plus, he's rockin' a sweet Braves hat.

The truth about Margaret (we think)

2011-07-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

Ever in pursuit of musical knowledge -- and fully aware it has been days since our last post -- we throttle up to 78 rpms today to take a wistful look at a golden voice of yesteryear.

Things we DID know about Margaret Whiting, who was born on this day in 1924:

-- She was a popular singer in the Forties and Fifties who covered many of the standards, like "Moonlight in Vermont," "It Might as Well Be Spring" and "Time After Time."
-- Her father was a composer.
-- My oldest sister was not named after her.

Things we DIDN'T know about Margaret Whiting:

-- She passed away in January of natural causes.
-- She and her sister were in a situation comedy that was a summer replacement for I Love Lucy.
-- Her fourth and final marriage was to gay porn star Jack Wrangler.

Hey, these are wikifacts. Now here's a video of our birthday girl:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFtx54oRkBoE

Groovin' with Alan Gorrie

2011-07-19T00:52:00.000-07:00

Alan Gorrie, bass player for the Average White Band, turns 65 today. If this video shot last year at Daryl Hall's "house" doesn't get you going, better check your pulse. Now this is a jam, with Gorrie in the middle of the commotion.

"Pick Up the Pieces" is one of the planet's greatest groove songs. It rose to the top of the Billboard chart in 1974 and through the years has been used in numerous shows and movies like Swingers, The People vs. Larry Flynt and Superman II. It is a paean to funkadelia. It completely legitimizes the disco beat. It'll get you a speeding ticket if you don't watch out.

Put in the earbuds this morning and see if you can slip your groove past the boss. Ain't gonna happen.

A rocker remembered

2011-07-18T00:02:00.000-07:00

Terry Tanger played with his fingertips protected
during a show at Shank Hall in April 2010.

It's not easy listening to the first song on Terry Tanger's self-produced CD, The Vicodin Sessions. Not today, not right now, because Terry is gone at age 55.

It's just the facts of life and you're gonna do it until you die

It's just the facts of life and you're gonna do it until you die

It's a fact of life that Terry Tanger was a rocker until the day he died, or at least until he was too weak and ill to pick up a guitar and play it. The last year wasn't easy. When the pain grew severe -- just pushing the steel strings down on the frets was excruciating -- Terry looked for ways to get around it. He needed to play, but a lead guitarist can't go out there in gloves.

Not that Terry didn't try. He tried everything. The last time we saw him -- the only time we saw him -- he played a reunion show with Those XCleavers at Shank Hall in Milwaukee. It was a year ago in April. To help blunt the pain that night he affixed the tips of blue surgical gloves to the ends of his left fingers before driving the band through its catalog of dance-til-you-drop songs.

If you never heard Those XCleavers at least know that they once opened for the Police and U2. They were a tight, kick-ass band, a favorite in Milwaukee clubs, playing an amalgam of punk, ska, blues, reggae, whatever. Wherever they played a herky-jerky dance crowd would form, shaking to those funky beats.

Bass player Tom Lesions had tipped us off before the Shank Hall show -- alarmed us, really -- by saying "Terry's not doing too well. He doesn't have all his organs." Other than family and close friends, who really knew how sick Terry was? How fortunate we were to have experienced that memorable show. The poor quality of this video does absolutely no justice to the band, but here's a glimpse of Terry playing guitar that night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JrGEx2Eyhk

Terry recorded The Vicodin Sessions in his kitchen, in one take, while recovering from surgery. He used two channels on a multi-track cassette recorder and played a 1966 Fender Newport acoustic, a 1938 Oahu lap steel guitar and various Hohner harmonicas. The music is raw and unvarnished, in a most beautiful way. You can hear the pain.

The Vicodin Sessions, in its purest form, a simple story. A lament over situations, fortune, and lost love. There has been little new in American popular music for over one hundred years. Songs, with lyrics or not, are the accompaniment to our lives. If we took the time to put them to some kind of order, they would be a soundtrack. Writers are best when they write what they know, and musicians have been writing about that that got away for ages.

Those were Terry's words. No doubt they'll be playing his soundtrack today during a memorial gathering at the Milwaukee Yacht Club. We didn't learn until reading a staff-written obituary in the Journal-Sentinel newspaper that Terry, a good guy by all accounts, had a wife and a career in banking. All we knew was that music had been his calling, from that first day he picked up a guitar as a preteen.

Those are just facts of life.

If Mandy is 41, that makes Bill ...

2011-07-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

Sundays at the Sanctuary, you never know what you'll get -- or even when you'll get it from our West Coast rock (and usually rock solid) contributor Al Tays, who clearly marches to the beat of a different bass player.

By Al Tays

Today we wish a happy 41st birthday to one Mandy Smith, one of the most interesting figures in rock and roll. Interesting not as a performer, although she has been a singer, but as a supporting character in one of music's great soap operas, the Rolling Stones.

Stones fans may recall Ms. Smith married bassist Bill Wyman in 1989, when she was 19 and he was 53. Nothing unusual there, although the couple did begin dating in 1983 when she was 13 and he was 47. No, it was later developments that took this relationship into News of the Weird territory. Bill and Mandy divorced in 1993, but before the divorce became final, Wyman's son from his first marriage, Stephen, married Smith's mother, Patsy.

Got that? Him: My son is also my father-in-law. Her: My mother is also my daughter-in-law.

I know, it's only rock and roll.

If you only know Wyman from the Stones, check him out here with his own band, the Rhythm Kings, featuring Georgie Fame on vocals, Procol Harum cofounder Gary Brooker on piano and Peter Frampton on guitar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nwwd_z6jPk&feature=related

Steve Earle soldiers on

2011-07-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

By Mike Tierney

You can eschew Steve Earle, from his potpourri of musical stylings to, as the greybearded one himself put it Friday, his "pinko" world view.

But you cannot help but admire him. A recovering heroin addict with a prison record and numerous failed marriages behind him, Earle, 56, is an enduring pro's pro -- never mailing it in, live or in the studio.

Typical of the current tour, Earle and his band delivered 30-something songs at the Atlanta Botanical Garden that spanned two hours, 45 minutes (including an intermission) and put his considerabily music range on full display. (For his tour schedule click here.)

Regrettably, he has released his foot somewhat off the rock 'n' roll pedal, but that is to be expected of an aging troubador recently married to bandmate Allison Moorer and toting around their 15-month-old son on the tour bus.

Also regrettably, Earle has always hewed closely in concert to the recorded versions of songs, thus preventing his enjoyable performances from becoming memorable by altering their arrangements.

Still, attendees know they will get ample doses of blues, bluegrass, country, toe-tapping pop and balls-to-the-wall rock, all in one sitting.

To keep it fresh, Earle is properly pumping out several cuts from his new CD, I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, most of them in the opening set.

The evening moves at a moderate pace until the main man puts away his acoustic guitar and mandolin and plugs in the electric toward the end. You almost wish he had cranked it up earlier. But, when the final notes are hit, your ears are ringing.

Another certainty with Earle: The audience can count on a gifted supporting band. Besides Moorer, who blessed the gathering with three of her own numbers, he was flanked by guitarist Chris Masterson, late of the sublime band Son Volt.

Earle cannot resist sharing his take on politically driven news. Not should he clam up. Wisely, though, in these divisive times, he has toned down his rhetoric between songs and allowed their lyrics to convey his mindset.

Earle might be nearing a line that all long-timers approach: He has written so many songs that some start to sound alike. Yet concert-goers depart with a variety of tunes bouncing around in their brains. Give them nearly three-dozen selections, almost all of them solid, and they will find plenty to like and remember.

At the end of the day (or night), that's what a live show is all about.

Mike Tierney, a big-time correspondent for The New York Times and other worldy publications, gets more feedback for his musings at the Sanctuary.

Six strings for your soul

2011-07-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

We notice the video we posted recently of a Cher-Gregg Allman duet has been removed for copyright reasons. C'mon, it wasn't THAT bad.

Well fine, go ahead and take 'em down and we'll just keep putting 'em up. But keep your hands off the video we're linking you to this morning of brother Allman. This one deserves to live forever on YouTube and wherever they're posting 100 years from now.

When we consider Gregg's musical (as opposed to marriage) repertoire we don't often think about his deft moves on a six-string guitar. His brother Duane, after all, was legendary in that regard and it has always been Gregg's remarkable voice and keyboard prowess that defined his contributions in the Allman Brothers Band and most of his solo work. But Gregg picked up a guitar first as a kid, and he learned how to play it, too.

Your prize for making it through another week: Sit back and watch/listen to this video of "Come and Go Blues." If you're a guitar player it will inspire you to explore some alternate tunings, in this case DGDGBD. If you're just a friend of warm, bluesy acoustic music that can bend your soul, why not grab a cup o' joe and get that groove on now.

Rob Grill lived for today

2011-07-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

In our midnight confessions we're tellin' the world that we loved Rob Grill. The lead singer and bass player for the Grass Roots died earlier this week in Mount Dora, Florida. He was 67. Here's the obituary we saw on the Washington Post website via the Orlando Sentinel:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/rob-grill-lead-singer-of-the-grass-roots-band-dies-at-67/2011/07/13/gIQAzpMzCI_story.html

We Boomers tend to romanticize our past because, well, we were younger and it seemed like a better place and a simpler time -- especially with the music that was playing on the airwaves. Grill and the Grass Roots generated good vibes with songs like "Let's Live for Today" and "Midnight Confessions" that helped us get through our teen-age years.

Here's to Rob Grill and some good times...

You could be a weiner

2011-07-14T00:35:00.000-07:00

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that
Can't you read the sign?

Being the sharp bunch that you are, you've probably figured out today's topic. That's right, we're always looking for signs here at the Sanctuary. Not signs like "Wash Hands When Finished." No, deeper, more mystical signs that are never obvious to the casual observer. Sometimes you have to connect the dots to discover the true meaning of things.

Take yesterday when my computer sent me randomly to a Facebook page I otherwise would never have visited. Now I could have clicked off the page and gone on with my business. But because I realized the potential of this "sign" one lucky Sanctuarian will very likely be winning Jewel's purse in an Oscar Meyer sweepstakes:

http://www.facebook.com/OscarMayer?sk=app_213124758726533

Go for it, and report back when you win so we can write a proper feature story. (There are also daily and weekly giveaways, but we're thinking big here. Jewel's purse big.)

Special thanks to the Five Man Electrical Band for today's lyrics, which inspired "long-haired freaky people" like us to to hide our hair under our caps before applying for jobs. Unfortunately that tactic didn't work at the Whitehall Packing Company back in 1971, which dispatched us before we had a chance to witness any bloody carnage. Meanwhile, "Signs" made it to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 that summer.

Born to be metal

2011-07-13T00:21:00.000-07:00

Could this be the day in history when heavy metal rock was officially born?

We haven't done much research on the topic, but our rock 'n' roll calendar lists two events on July 13, 1968 that suggest the birthing of headbanger music. All we know for sure is that our mommas were not pleased.

Exhibit A: Steppenwolf's landmark "Born To Be Wild" is released in the U.S., where it will climb to No. 2 on the Billboard chart. A line from the song about "heavy metal thunder" refers to motorcycles yet is credited with popularizing the term for this emerging music form.

We were all in at this point, as Steppenwolf became a welcome addition to the music of the day with songs like "Sookie Sookie" (which didn't even chart), "Born to Be Wild" and Magic Carpet Ride" that pushed us deeper into the catatonic stages of pre-adulthood.

Exhibit B: Black Sabbath plays their first gig at a club in Birmingham, England. Can't say we really noticed them until a couple years later when their album Paranoid completely sent us over edge. As draft-age adults by now we were offended to read an article suggesting that Black Sabbath's music was targeted at 14-year-olds.

Who in hell wrote that trash?

Saved by the Dropkick Murphys

2011-07-12T00:58:00.000-07:00

Does Boys and Toys refer to the men and their instruments,
or the special talent they brought out to polish off their set?

We heard Piles of Rhythm at this year's Summerfest, but my normally steady sidekick Jessi suffered Vanity Theft when she was Caught Looking at Dan Rodriguez's tattoos during his set at the Tiki Hut. It was Bad City after that, as a lot of the music we heard sounded like Stray Voltage (although one guitarist in particular on the Big Backyard stage seemed to have an Electric Touch with his Gibson Les Paul).

Throughout the day we swilled beers and probably injested too many Fatty Acids. We also found time to call our Unwed Sailor son/brother Zach to see what was happenin' in Hawaii. But then we heard a Siren, which caused an Early Ending to our afternoon at the Big Gig. Picture Me Broken. It was Something To Do on a warm summer afternoon in Milwaukee. At least we weren't sitting at home considering our Stock Options.

When you start your new band -- and you WILL have a band -- we're hoping you can come up with a better name than some of the monikers we saw on this year's Summerfest lineup. When you have in the neighborhood of 700 bands playing on 11 stages over 11 days there are going to be some stinkers, but hey, at least most of the music we heard was enjoyable.

Once we decided to forego the headliners who appeared at Marcus Amphitheater and just go with the flow from stage to stage we were OK. We saw Rodriguez, a Minneapolis-based artist who sounds like a cross between Jack Johnson and Paul Thorn, and we can tell you he's not just another Junk Male. Rodriguez was on the same bill with Love Out Loud and Funktion. From there we headed to the Classic Rock Stage to hear The Sociables -- what in Lynyrd Skynyrd's name is a band that plays "That Smell" doing with a name like that? But they really did play some smokin' southern rock.

And we had great fun with the crowd that gathered for Boys and Toys, a hard-rocking trio from Kenosha that can jam with the best of them -- and could really use a nameover. But I realize if this Revision Text doesn't stop now I Am History with you kind readers.

Feast on this birthday treat

2011-07-10T00:31:00.000-07:00

You can get anything you want on
Sundays at the Sanctuary, where
Al Tays covers everything from
Arlo (above) to ZZ Top.

By Al Tays

For today's birthday celebration, a cake just won't do. No, it's gotta be "a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat." Thanksgiving in July? We could only be talking about Arlo Guthrie, the creator of "Alice's Restaurant Massacree."

Guthrie turns 64 today, and it's been 44 years since he released the album titled "Alice's Restaurant." A few years ago he re-recorded the song, adding an anecdote about discovering that Richard Nixon owned a copy of the album, and the song is exactly the same length as the famous gap in the Watergate tapes.

It's a tradition among many radio stations (not to mention yours truly) to play this song every Thanksgiving (I get to do it as long as I agree not to force Mrs. Assistant Music Blogger or Assistant Music Blogger Son and Daughter to listen).

But for Arlo's birthday, I'll crank up the iPod and wait for it to come around again on the gi-tar. Those of you Sanctuary seekers who enjoy it as much as I do can easily find it online. But for those with shorter attention spans, we offer this version of Guthrie's other well-known recording, his version of the Steve Goodman classic "City of New Orleans."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DM6ppYwXTQ

The music of baseball

2011-07-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

If you think there was hugging on the field you should
have seen the aisles at Miller Park, where jubilant fans
were grabbing the nearest body they could find after a
ninth-inning rally produced an 8-7 Brewers victory.

We're hoarse this morning from all the screaming and squealing. In fact we have no voices at all. And, yes, we're a little woozy and hung over. In other words, nirvana!

This is summer, and summer means baseball, and baseball provides those rare moments when you don't believe you could feel more excited or eurphoric about any other event on this great earth.

Brewers win! Brewers win!

After the dreaded Reds scored three runs in the top of the seventh last night, taking a 7-5 lead, we admit it was difficult to summon the energy for the "Beer Barrel Polka," the appropriate encore for "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch at Miller Park.

Then it seemed like the bottom half of the seventh ... took ... forever. Didn't we eventually strand runners at first and third without scoring? After watching a weary beer vender who was barking "Last call!" make his umpteenth trek up and down the steps of Section 126 Jess turned to me and remarked: "That guy thought his job was done a long time ago."

We don't remember much about the scoreless eighth, or even details of the top half of the ninth where Marco Estrada somehow kept the dangerous Reds' offense (Joey Votto is the scariest weapon in baseball) off the scoreboard. But the bottom of the ninth will live forever.

Reserve catcher George Kottaras led off with an ominous walk against former Brewers closer Francisco Cordero. Next All-Star Rickie Weeks, who had an inside-the-park homer in the third that made the Reds outfielders look like Larry, Moe and Curly, flew out. Damn, one away. Up came sparkplug outfielder Nyjer Morgan (alter ego: Tony Plush), who followed with a wild triple into the right field corner, scoring Kottaras and pulling the boys within one. (At this point the game's fan giveaway, a Ryan Braun Rally Towel, offically became a high-use collectors item.)

Corey Hart then followed with a chopper to the shortstop that woulda, coulda, shoulda tied the game but the Reds catcher took the throw at the plate and Morgan, a 185-pound model freight train choo-chooing down the line, couldn't dislodge the ball from the mitt. Two out.

Cordero then pitched carefully to Prince Fielder, who drew a walk, moving Hart to second. When light-hitting and slow-moving third baseman Casey McGehee, a late-inning substitution, somehow beat out an infield chopper, the bases were jammed, no place to put 'em. Up stepped reserve outfielder Mark Kotsay, who has been playing in left for the injured Braun. Kotsay had already played hero-goat on this night, with a home run and a botched play in left that aided the Reds' rally in the seventh.

Here rookie manager Ron Roenicke made his best move of the night, and maybe the season. He inserted the Carlos Gomez as a pinch-runner for Prince. Now, with the fleet Go-Go on second, a well-placed single could win it. Still, there were two outs. I don't remember exactly when we started screaming, but I can say with assurance that we never stopped until 25 minutes later when our bus shuttle -- 20 drunk and delirious fans in a 10-seat van -- triumphantly returned to Rounding Third Tavern. Come to think of it, we were just starting.

Rounding Third -- how appropriate, since that is how we remember Gomez, just a blur as he wheeled past third base coach Ed Sedar in full view from our seats. Kotsay had worked Cordero to a nail-biting 2-2 count before launching a 95 mph fastball into right. Hart was home in an instant, followed closely by Coco, who made a beautiful head-first slide to beat the throw at the plate and score the game-winner.

Pandemonium, the word, somehow doesn't seem dramatic enough, even in this morning afterglow. But it's all we have. We're out of words, out of voices, out of this world.

67 candles for Jaimoe

2011-07-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

We're here today to spread some good cheer for a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. Jai Johanny Johanson, who shared the duel drumming attack with Butch Trucks, has made it to 67 -- which must seem like 1,000 in rock band years.

In a 2009 interview at http://www.moogis.com/ Jaimoe recalled reading Downbeat magazine in high school. "God sent Downbeat magazine to 33rd Avenue High School (in Gulfport, Mississippi) for me and I used to read that magazine from front to back, everything in it," he recalled. When he read how artists like Sonny Greer and Paul Gonsalves in the Duke Ellington band had survived 30 years he couldn't believe it. "That's the craziest thing," he said.

Congratulations, Jaimoe, you've now made it 42 years.

Today we're sharing a clip from earlier this year at the Iridium in New York City, where the Jaimoe Jasssz Band was running through a sweet version of "Rainy Night in Georgia." These cats are tight.

Besides spinning some Allman Brothers today we have a mind to hear some Sea Level, the fusion offshoot started by Jaimoe, bassist Lamar Williams and keyboard player Chuck Leavell when the Allmans were disbanding following the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley.

"When you have something that you do well together, know what it is, that's one of the greatest lessons in 40 years," says Jaimoe. "Knowing how chemistry works."

The new math

2011-07-07T00:11:00.000-07:00

They gave it four paragraphs in Twisted South magazine, and that was good enough for us. If you're looking for some new blues grooves this just might do the trick for you.

The CD is The Mathematics of Love by Peter Parcek and we see smoke coming out of the jewel case. If you're not familiar with Parcek (we weren't), all you probably need to know is that he has been called "as bad as Clapton" by Buddy Guy. Bandmates Steve Scully (drums) and Marc Hickox (bass) appear to be the perfect sidekicks for Parcek's fusion of blues, rockabilly and surf guitar.

Check out the video and don't bother thanking us. We're just passing it along. For more information about Parcek here's a link to his website: http://www.peterparcekband.com/

Hey baby it's the Fourth of July

2011-07-04T00:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July, we have some fireworks for you today.

Dave Alvin remembers years ago watching Austin City Limits for the first time in his home in Downey, California. On the stage for that show were a couple of legends that must have inspired him: Townes Van Zandt and Lightnin' Hopkins.

Which is why he mentions after performing "Fourth of July" that words couldn't adequately describe his feelings about performing on the same stage. But we're of the opinion that no stage is too big for Alvin, who has never received his due as an artist and songwriter despite his barn-storming days in the Blasters and X, and an impressive catalog of solo work.

Anybody who thought Robert Earl Keen wrote "Fourth of July" owes Dave Alvin a red-white-and-blue apology. You can start by listening to the real deal, which starts as a slow burn and builds up to Alvin's pyrotechnic riffing on his Stratocaster (beginning at 3:46):

On the stairs I smoke a cigarette alone
Mexican kids are shooting fireworks below
Hey baby it's the Fourth of July
Hey baby it's the Fourth of July

And then there was Pickett's charge

2011-07-03T00:16:00.000-07:00

If contributor Al Tays really wanted to spoil your Sunday at the Sanctuary he would have mentioned that Roy Rogers' horse Trigger died on this day in 1965. He (Trigger) was 25. Tays, age unknown, soldiers on.

By Al Tays

Look both ways when you cross the street today, Sanctuary seekers, 'cause there's lots of bad karma on this day in music history.

1969: Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones drowns.

1971: Doors frontman Jim Morrison is found dead in a bathtub in Paris.

1972: Blues great Mississippi Fred McDowell ("I do not play no rock 'n' roll")
dies of cancer.

1973: Laurens Hammond, the inventor of the Hammond organ, dies.

2001: Singer-songwriter Johnny Russell dies. The Beatles, with Ringo on lead vocals, covered his "Act Naturally," which was first recorded by Buck Owens.

So much music to choose from to honor these greats, but we're in the mood to hear some sweet Hammond B-3. So listen to Jimmy Smith rip it up on "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and light some candles for our Band of the Dearly Departed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG0r803mKPI

.

Feel like we do

2011-07-02T00:02:00.000-07:00

A poster promoting Day
on the Green, one of many
concerts at Oakland Coliseum.

You've noticed that icon on the top right corner of our page for Wolfgang's Vault? We hope you've been curious enough to click on it, because it'll take you places. Places like ...

Oakland Coliseum, two days before the Fourth of July, 1977. Promoter Bill Graham presents Day on the Green No. 4, featuring Peter Frampton, Santana, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Outlaws. The stadium is packed to the gills, it's been 10 years since the Summer of Love blossomed on the Left Coast but there are still plenty of hippies and longhairs -- and bikini-clad worshippers -- grooving on the big stadium concerts. As fireworks explode in the sky Frampton steps up to the mic and performs "Baby I Love Your Way."

You can relive moments from that memorable concert -- and watch hundreds of other vintage performances -- by simply visiting the Vault. We've never received much positive feedback when referencing Frampton, but watch the setup to "Do You Feel Like We Do" -- a meandering love fest that tracks for 24 minutes, 14 seconds -- and witness the artist's complete mastery of his audience. It's something to behold. Here's a direct link:

http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/peter-frampton/video/do-you-feel-like-we-do_-239648688.html

It's a reminder that music can make any day, but especially a warm summer day that folds into a promising Fourth of July weekend. Better get out there and find something real ...

Summer strummers

2011-07-01T00:23:00.000-07:00

Sweet days of summer
The jasmine's in bloom
July is dressed up
And playing her tune

Whatever became of June, and for that matter, Seals & Crofts? Our favorite month is officially shot in the keister. If you're feeling cheated, join the band. We never had spring up here in the hinterlands, and summer is blowing past like a C.C. Sabathia fastball (striking out 13 Brewers yesterday, now that's cruel!)

OK, you can tell we have nothing today. Except ... what really did happen to Seals & Crofts? They would have been the perfect accompaniment to Summerfest, where 700 bands are sharing 11 stages over 11 days. It really is the world's largest music festival, and we'll be there before it's over. But no Seals & Crofts.

"Summer Breeze" really did make us feel fine, so fine that we're posting a video to help break in July on a mellow, groovy note. Now if we could just transport back to 1972 ...

The harder they fall

2011-06-30T00:31:00.000-07:00

We've never owned the 1977 album Two the Hard Way and apparently we aren't the only ones. It was a dismal failure for the artists, Allman and Woman (you can figure this out without our help).

In rating the album "worthless," the Rolling Stone Record Guide review poured on the hurt: "It's hard to imagine a more inappropriate combination ... It's the bottom of the barrel after a long fall for Gregg, and more of the same for Cher." Ouch.

Cher and Gregg Allman, what was that all about anyway? We know little about their ill-fated marriage, other than the fact that the act was consummated on this day in 1975, just three days after Cher's divorce from Sonny Bono had been finalized. And it was over by 1979 (although Cher first filed for divorce nine days after they got hitched). In between there was this People magazine profile of the couple and their intention of making the union work:

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20066918,00.html

Hey, not even the tabloids get it right every time. Nor, apparently, does the Rolling Stone Record Guide. OK, we still haven't listened to the album, but we strapped ourselves to YouTube long enough to hear the then-lovebirds sing the Smokey Robinson staple "You've Really Got a Hold On Me," and it isn't dreadful at all. In fact it's pretty good.

Go ahead and listen for yourself, on what would have been Cher and Gregg's 36th anniversary.

Life under the Bigtop

2011-06-29T00:38:00.000-07:00

A seller on EBay wants $50 for a mint-condition 45 rpm record of Del Shannon's "Two Silhouettes." What's up with dat?

Under the Bigtop: The B side of
Del Shannon's "Two Silhouettes"
is the gem "From Me to You."

We'll tell you what. The flip side is "From Me to You," which has the distinction of being the first song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney to chart in the U.S. (and one of the last to be credited McCartney-Lennon.)

Now that alone doesn't explain why someone would ask $50 for a vinyl single. But it is nevertheless an interesting story to track.

Shannon's version of "From Me to You" entered the Billboard Hot 100 on June 29, 1963 and remained there four weeks, stalling at No. 77. (Curiously, "Two Silhouettes" didn't chart at all in the U.S., but made it to No. 23 in the UK, which loved the American rocker.)

Remember, nobody on this side of the pond in mid-1963 had heard of the Beatles. Shannon knew them, though, after appearing with them during a 15-act show at the Royal Albert Hall in London in April of that year. The Beatles played "From Me to You" at the concert and Shannon -- who knew a good song when he heard it, especially when it involved some falsetto -- brought the song back with him to the U.S. and recorded a faithful version on his label, Bigtop Records.

We were surprised to learn the Beatles' original "From Me to You," a chart-topper in the UK, never made it higher than No. 41 in the U.S. It's a fab song from the group's "invasion phase" -- they played it during their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 16, 1964 -- but we're guessing it was lost in the flurry of other great releases like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," "She Loves You" and "Please Please Me."

Shannon's cover is no slouch either. Give it a listen today.

Sticks to you like flypaper

2011-06-28T00:44:00.000-07:00

By Mike Tierney

No pop song in the past six months has combined catchy and classy as much as "Down by the Water" by the Decemberists.

Frontman-writer Colin Meloy marries the band's folk sensibilities with lively indie rock, built on surprisingly hyper-active percussion and spiced by a lively accordion, to create a tune that, once heard, is not easily dislodged from your brain.

The song's thread is a standard guitar line that seemed stolen from R.E.M.'s Peter Buck. Not guilty, given that Buck is the player on "Down by the Water" as well as the producer of the uneven but pleasing album, "The King is Dead."

So the news was initially welcome that Meloy had agreed to drop by my little town, tucked into metro Atlanta, on Labor Day weekend. But the devil is in the details, and it was disappointing to learn this detail: He will appear not as music-maker but wordsmith.

Meloy, along with his artist-wife, will headline the Decatur Book Festival, promoting the launch of their adult-aimed fantasy trilogy.

I don't suppose Meloy will pack his guitar, at least for public consumption. So, having missed the Decemberists' tour, I will have to bide my time with the CD and YouTube videos.

But I will cut Meloy some slack. Some years ago, the former creative writing major in college penned a quick-read listener's appreciation of the Replacements' gem, "Let It Be." That book makes him all right in my book.

Still, it would be nice if Meloy brought his guitar to the festival, should the mood strike.

When the mood strikes Mike Tierney contributes thoughtful commentary for the Sanctuary from his musical tramping grounds in Atlanta.

Uncovering a stinker

2011-06-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

When it comes to covers
our intrepid contributor
Al Tays has it covered.
Which is why we can't
in good conscience
provide links to a
very regrettable song.

Interesting confluence of history on this date: In 2008, Total Guitar magazine named Celine Dion's cover of AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" as the worst cover ever. And in 1965, the Byrds went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with their landmark cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man."

Now, I had never heard Ms. Dion's version of "You Shook me All Night Long," but in the interest of journalistic integrity, I YouTubed it. Wow. That's 4 minutes and 25 seconds I'll never get back. My eyes! My ears! Make it stop!

YouTube also has a video of Shania Twain doing this song live, and I've gotta say ... it was worse. Backed by the sublime Alison Krauss and Union Station, Twain countrified the song, which just emasculated it, as far as I'm concerned. It was almost as disturbing as Faith Hill's country ruination of "Piece of My Heart." You've probably heard Janis Joplin's classic version of this Jerry Ragovoy/Bert Berns tune, but to truly appreciate what a great piece of R&B genius this is, check out the original 1967 recording by Aretha Franklin's now-deceased older sister, Erma Franklin. Aretha wasn't the only one in that family with some pipes.

In fairness to Ms. Twain, she does have a personal connection to "You Shook me All Night Long." Her ex-husband, Mutt Lange, produced "Back in Black," the AC/DC album on which the song appeared. Still . . .

I like my covers to bring something different to the table, to take the song in a direction the original didn't go. You could say that Twain's and Hill's country versions of rock classics did that, but I don't like covers to rip the guts out of songs, either.

And this isn't an anti-country bias, either. I love me some country music. When it IS country music.

My favorite cover, by a wide margin, is of a country song - John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads." Check out the Toots and the Maytals version sometime. Now THAT's a cover I could listen to all night long.

Elvis interruptus

2011-06-24T06:41:00.000-07:00

Markers don't lie: The spot in Madison, Wisconsin
where Elvis showed up to save the day in 1977.

The Elvis Information Network devoted 7,338 words to the retelling of this story, but until yesterday we weren't even aware -- even though it happened just a short drive down the freeway.

On this day in 1977 Elvis was riding in his limo in Madison, Wisconsin when he saw two teenagers whupping up on a younger kid outside a gas station. According to a police detective who witnessed the event, Elvis jumped out and challenged the teens, yelling "I'll take you on!"

The startled punks "looked up at him, froze in mid-punch and the victim ran into the gas station." Having saved the day and possibly a few of the kid's teeth, Elvis got back in the limo and headed to his room at the Sheraton.

For the unabridged story, click this link:

http://www.elvisinfonet.com/spotlight_elvis_madison_incident.html

Just 53 days after his Good Samaritan deed the King of Rock 'n' Roll would be dead, a fact that may or may not be mentioned in those 7,338 words.

Someday comes for Steve Earle

2011-06-23T00:06:00.000-07:00

We just read a Q&A with Steve Earle in Acoustic Guitar magazine in which he declares the greatest songwriter of his generation is ... Bruce Springsteen.

We found that surprising, but probably shouldn't have. Earle has always been a big fan of Springsteen. He recorded a great live version of "State Trooper" that was included as a bonus track on the 2002 reissue of Guitar Town. If you go back and listen to that disc -- and we do, often, because it's such a great collection of songs -- you'll hear the Springsteen influence as much Earle's early mentor Townes Van Zant.

It's hard to avoid comparisions between Springsteen's rebel anthem "Born To Run" and Earle's "Someday." Both want to get out of Dodge while the getting's good. We used to count out-of-state plates at a filling station in a one-horse town, so we understand the sentiments expressed in "Someday."

There ain't a lot that you can do in this town
You drive down to the lake and then you turn back around
You go to school and you learn to read and write
So you can walk into that county bank and sign away your life

I work at the fillin' station on the interstate
Pumpin' gasoline and countin' out of state plates
They ask me how far into Memphis son and where's the nearest beer
They don't even know that there's a town around here

Someday I'm finally gonna let go
'Cause I know there's a better way
And I wanna know what's over that rainbow
I'm gonna get out of here someday

Now my brother went to college 'cause he played football
I'm still hangin' round 'cause I'm a little bit small
I got me a 67 Chevy, she's low and sleek and black
Someday I'll put her on that interstate and never look back

Earle finally put her on the interstate -- to New York City -- and he's never looked back at Tennessee, or Texas for that matter. Not much cowboy rebel left in those bones, or so it seems, and there's nothing wrong with that (but we do wonder what Townes would've thought). We've seen him acting on TV, we're just starting to read his book I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive and we finally got around to ordering the new CD. We have tickets to his show at the Pabst Theater in July (thanks for adding that date).

You could say the second-best songwriter of his generation is keeping us busy.

The meaning of Sundown

2011-06-22T01:09:00.000-07:00

I can see her lying back in her satin dress
In a room where you do what you don't confess

Thus begins one of the most widely intrepretated songs in Gordon Lightfoot's impressive catalog. Was "Sundown" -- which was sitting pretty at No. 1 on the Billboard chart on this day in 1974 -- about:

a) a night in a whorehouse
b) Lightfoot's girlfriend cheating on him
c) Lightfoot's wife divorcing him
d) the hamlet in New York where the song was written
e) coping with alcoholism
e) a drag queen

Answer: All of the above. (Kidding!!!!) When we were listening to "Sundown" that summer it seemed obvious the song was about a hooker. But what did we know back then? A year after the song became a hit, Lightfoot offered his vague explanation in an interview with Crawdaddy magazine:

"All it is, is a thought about a situation where someone is wondering what his live one is doing at the moment. He doesn't quite know where she is. He's not ready to give up on her, either, and that's about all I got to say about that."

Well, that really clears things up! The best suggestion we've heard yet comes someone who left this interesting comment on songfacts.com:

"'Sundown' was the nickname of a close friend of Mr. Lightfoot's who shall remain nameless. Suffice to say, Mr. Lightfoot began to suspect that his friend was having an affair with his first wife. This occurred at a point when Mr. Lightfoot's marriage was on the rocks to begin with, and also when he was struggling with pretty serious problem with alcohol and the violence that drinking tended to bring out of him. In this context, the meaning of each line of this song should be clear to you all."

If this is true, we've at least been able to eliminate the drag queen. And that's relief enough for now. Baby steps...

The apple of our eye

2011-06-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

Within a month of relocating here to Wisconsin in 2009 we found occasion to write about O.C. Smith's gem "Little Green Apples," which had the misfortune of charting at the same time (fall of 1968) as "Hey Jude." Now here we are again because today would have been O.C.'s 79th birthday and, well, we just dig that song and the man who sang it.

With "Hey Jude" spending eight weeks atop of the Billboard chart there simply was no room for contenders. The Beatles essentially denied O.C. a chance for his only No. 1 hit. What we didn't realize until our crack research team informed us: "Little Green Apples" also stalled at No. 2 on the R&B chart, blocked by the six-week run of James Brown's "Say It Loud -- I'm Black and Proud." How you gonna mess with that?

O.C. himself was black and proud, but he didn't easily fit into the R&B niche. He recorded a lot of traditional songs that just happened to find airplay on R&B and Adult Contemporary radio stations. He was fed songs like "That's Life," and "Baby I Need Your Loving" and there was nothing wrong with them, but it wasn't like anybody was going to outsing Sinatra or the Four Tops. And despite a great God-given voice, O.C. was hampered by some regrettable recording arrangements (check out "Wichita Lineman" on YouTube at your own peril).

But "Little Green Apples" was a different deal altogether. Give it a listen today, and hoist a glass to O.C. and the members of today's Birthday Band:

O.C. Smith (1932-2001): Singer
Little Green Apples, Daddy's Little Man, The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp

Ray Davies (1944): Singer/songwriter, Kinks
You Really Got Me, Well Respected Man, Lola

Miguel Vicens (1944): Bass, Los Bravos
Black Is Black

Joey Molland (1948): Guitar/Keyboards, Badfinger
Come and Get It, No Matter What, Baby Blue

Greg Munford (1949): Vocals, Strawberry Alarm Clock
Incense and Peppermints

Joey Kramer (1950): Drums, Aerosmith
Walk This Way, Sweet Emotion, Dream On

Nils Lofgren (1951): Guitar/keyboards, E Street Band
Played on Springstreen's Born in the USA tour

Ballad for the big man

2011-06-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Strumbum notes: Atlanta contributor Mike Tierney introduced us to Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band at the Lakeland Civic Center in Florida, circa 1978. Thirty-three years and many memorable concert experiences later we remain eternally grateful, and today we pay our respects to the band's beautiful big man, sax player Clarence Clemons.

Bruce Springsteen leaned heavily on Clarence Clemons.

By Mike Tierney

In the early 1980s, I found myself backstage after a Bruce Springsteen concert in Oakland, Calif., awaiting a one-on-one interview for which I had spent months arranging.

Well, Spingsteen's father, who had just moved to the area, showed up unexpectedly. Off they went, leaving me stranded. (Because these words are being typed on Father's Day, I feel a modicum of forgiveness, but no more than that.)

I did, however, take away a vivid memory from that frustrating night. Seems I wound up outside a separate dressing room designated for a single member of the E Street Band. The others, I believe, got on their game faces in a communal space.

You might have guessed that the special treatment was afforded to Clarence Clemons, the larger-than-life saxophonist who apparently required a larger-than-normal room. Curious, I was planning to ask Springsteen if other bandmates were jealous about the set-up.

Some years later, I learned second-hand through guitarist Nils Lofgren that Springsteen operates as a benevolent dictator who holds his sidekicks in high regard as long as they are clear that he calls the shots. In such hierachies, usually the others unite to commiserate or plot how to get their voice heard. So I have assumed ever since the rest were cool with the favoritism.

Clemons, who died Saturday at 69 from after-effects of a stroke, was a top-notch musician, but no better than the other players in the finest rock 'n' roll band ever to grace the planet. For most Springsteen songs, in fact, the sax sat idle, not lending a hand.

For good reason. Springsteen ingeniously picked the spots for the sax -- a song intro there, an instrumental break there, a fade-out when it fit. In doing so, he made the instrument's presence special. That is the secret of record-making: Leave 'em wanting more.

On the rare occasions when Clemons cut loose for an extended period, best illustrated in the chilling masterpiece "Jungleland," the moment rose to the level of Springsteen highlights. (Check out YouTube and notice the clips edited down to Clemons' segment on the tune.)

Springsteen respected the role of the sax in his genre, and he found a contributor who blew on one to emit the ideal sound that blended with "these drums and these guitars," as Bruce wailed in "No Surrender."

Of course, Clemons' character was the perfect foil for Springsteen onstage. He was big, black, stylish. Bruce is short, white, scruffy. Their interplay, which sometimes led to a lips-to-lips kiss, was knee-slapping entertaining and is what endeared most Bruceniks to the Big Man.

But it is music, not performance, that is forever, and what flew out of Clarence's instrument helped lift Springsteen's songs to an unparalled plane in the annals of pop music. They have, and will, stand the test of time.

A few years ago, I shared a hotel bar table in Atlanta for a minute with Clarence. Same as in Oakland 2 1/2 decades earlier, I heard were no memorable words, though at least I got small talk this time. What struck me was non-verbal -- his gait, slow and forced. I concluded he was not long for future E Street Band tours.

Turns out, he was not long for this earth. As his family prepares for burial, I am sure their grief is palpable. But I cannot imagine it being any greater than the suffering of Springsteen, who has lost a part of himself.

Young and impressionable

2011-06-19T00:15:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

When Left Coast contributor Al Tays informed us he
was writing about Kenley Young, our first thought was,
'What the ... ?' But if our guy says check it out...

As a battle-scarred veteran of the newspaper industry (otherwise known as "buggy-whip factories"), I was weaned on the concept that you couldn't write or publish anything unless it had a "news hook." Like "This is the 25th anniversary of the invention of the Flowbee," or something like that. God forbid that you write anything about the Flowbee on, say, some random date, or even a randomly numbered anniversary date. No 13th-anniversary Flowbee stories, y'all.

Regular readers of SSS will attest that we, too, operate in this manner, weekly noting some band that made it to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986 or somebody's eleventy-first birthday.

Which is all well and good, but as one of my favorite movie quotes goes: "Sometimes you have to say, "What the f**k."

So today, no anniversaries. Just an anecdote.

When it comes to music, I have a dual personality. Part of me loves the security of listening to stuff I know and love, over and over and over again. I'm certainly not alone there - why do you think mainstream radio plays the stuff it does?

But another part of me loves the thrill of finding something new - "new" often meaning "new to me," since it might be something that's been out for 25 years and I just never heard it.

I recently made a trip to a neighborhood bar in LA to hear a co-worker play a solo acoustic set. I know Kenley Young only as a superbly talented writer and editor. I knew he played guitar and had been in bands, but that was it. But when I heard him the other night, I was knocked out. Dude writes his own stuff, and he's good.

So this is not so much to pimp Mr. Young (but by all means check him out at http://www.kenleyyoung.com/fr_home.cfm), but to encourage you to keep expanding your horizons, and support your local music economy. Get out there to your local bars and clubs and coffee houses and check out your local artists. You never know what you'll find.

And while you're there, remember to say "What the f**k."

What a piece of ...

2011-06-18T05:11:00.000-07:00

If Frank Sinatra would've had his way -- wait, didn't Frankie always do it his way? -- he never would have recorded "Strangers in the Night." And maybe "Paperback Writer" would have spent another week atop the Billboard chart in that sizzling musical summer of 1966.

Sinatra HATED the Croatian song that Bert Kaempfert had retooled as an instrumental for the movie A Man Could Get Killed. Sinatra not only despised the music and lyrics that were brought to him, he was bothered by the session guitarist who kept staring at him during the recording session.

The guitarist was none other than Glen Campbell, who recalled in a 2008 interview: "Frank asked (producer) Jimmy Bowen, 'Who's the fag guitarist over there?' I told him I'd slap him if he said that again." (A year later nobody was pimping Campbell after he rose to stardom himself, beginning with the immensely popular "Gentle on My Mind.")

Sinatra's "scooby dooby doo" ending on "Strangers in the Night"? It was a dismissive ad-lib. When the record vaulted to the top of the chart that summer -- overtaking rock gems like "Paint It Black" and "Paperback Writer" -- the artist probably viewed adoring fans as gullible suckers. After all, he had called the song that would become his first pop No. 1 in 11 years "a piece of shit."

Now how's that for showing gratitude?

A pissing match waiting to happen

2011-06-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

The Who's Next album cover. The
music inside also left a mark
at the Sanctuary.

Here they are, the Top 10 album covers of all time, according to a Rolling Stone magazine readers poll. (It's obvious the list is limited to rock music; there are some jazz album covers that artistically would blow most of these away.)

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Beatles
2. Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd
3. Nevermind, Nirvana
4. Abbey Road, Beatles
5. London Calling, The Clash
6. Sticky Fingers, Rolling Stones
7. Revolver, Beatles
8. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
9. Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd
10. The Velvet Underground & Nico, Velvet Underground

It's a decent, if somewhat predictable, list. We find it troubling that two groups (Beatles, Pink Floyd) are hogging half the covers. If we had been choosing we might have tried to slip in Who's Next by the Who, Music From Big Pink by Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin or Led Zeppelin IV, Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream & Other Delights, Springsteen's Born in the USA, and the Stones' original Beggars Banquet cover showing graffiti on a lavatory wall (reissued in 2002). Yeah, we just had to piss on their list.

RS notes that only five people depicted on the celebrated Sgt. Peppers cover -- always a popular pick -- are still with us: Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, of course, along with Bob Dylan, Dion DiMucci and Shirley Temple. (The late actor Leo Gorcey of Bowery Boys fame was nixed from the cover after his agent demanded $400. He died two years later.)

Click here to view the RS Top 10 (and we hope that you enjoy the show).

Thank you, Andrew Gold

2011-06-16T00:48:00.000-07:00

And when we die and float away
Into the night, the Milky Way
You'll hear me call, as we ascend
I'll see you there, then once again
Thank you for being a friend

How could we have known while referencing Andrew Gold last August in a blog about fireflies that we would be reading his obituary this summer. Gone at age 59? That's way too early. Gold died this month in L.A. of an apparent heart attack. He was being treated for renal cancer.

Gold was an accomplished musician and songwriter with an impressive pedigree. His father won an Academy Award for writing the musical score to Exodus. His mother provided the voices for Natalie Wood in West Side Story and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, among others.

If you don't remember Gold from his solo days in the 70's he might have escaped your attention altogether. He enjoyed a Top 10 hit with "Lonely Boy" from his 1976 album What's Wrong With This Picture. His 1978 song "Thank You For Being a Friend" would years later become the theme for TV's The Golden Girls. He sang the theme song to Mad About You. And before all of that success he spent four years in Linda Ronstadt's band when she was belting out hits like "You're No Good," "Heat Wave" and "When Will I Be Loved."

So if you didn't know Gold it might be your own fault. Either way, you can read his obituary in the New York Times by clicking this link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/arts/music/andrew-gold-singer-and-songwriter-dies-at-59.html

To catch a glimpse of him on stage check out the "Lonely Boy" video above.

Sayonara to Kyu Sakamoto

2011-06-15T00:50:00.000-07:00

One of the 509 passengers who boarded ill-fated JAL Flight 123 in Tokyo on August 12, 1985 was Kyu Sakamoto.

Twenty two summers earlier Sakamoto, at age 21, was a curious sensation in America after his song "Sukiyaki" became the first No. 1 hit by a Japanese artist. Here was the Billboard Top 5 on this day in 1963:

1. Sukiyaki, Kyu Sakamoto
2. It's My Party, Leslie Gore
3. You Can't Sit Down, Dovells
4. Da Doo Ron Ron, Crystals
5. I Love You Because, Al Martino

Wildly popular in his native country, Sakamoto had a string of hits in Japan by the time "Sukiyaki" hit the top of the U.S. charts. (The real title of the song was "Ue O Muite Aruko," but that wasn't going to sell many records in the U.S.)

That was all we would hear from Sakamoto until 1985 when the Boeing 747 crashed into a wooded mountainside 60 miles northwest of Tokyo. Miraculously there were four survivors, but Sakamoto was not one of them. He was 43.

We remember hearing "Sukiyaki" blaring from the radio in a 1959 Pontiac Catalina. It was the summer of '63, the dial was tuned to KDWB in the Twin Cities and life as we knew it then was very, very good.

Rock on with Rod-A

2011-06-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

We loved the Zombies, and don't believe Rod Argent has ever received proper credit for his contributions to rock music.

Being anal career journalists it is hard to defend an artist whose most famous work contains a major typographical error. But that is the case with the Zombies' masterful 1967 album Odessey and Oracle, which includes the surprise hit "Time of the Season," the Faulknerian "A Rose for Emily" (both written by Argent) and the World War I plaint "Butcher's Tale." Members of the band at the time said the misspelling of "odyssey" was intentional, but (wink, wink) we know better.

It was another example of a band dispersing before the greatness of its album was realized. Argent and bassist Chris White had already formed Argent by the time "Time of the Season" rose to No. 3 on the U.S. chart. Surely you remember their continuing contribution in the form of the Top 10 hit "Hold Your Head Up."

It's Argent's birthday today -- happy 66th, mate! -- so we're offering up a taste of early Zombies. Do you remember The People's (only) 1968 hit "I Love You"? It was written by White and recorded first by the Zombies. So listen up -- pay particular attention to Argent's nifty keyboard work at 2:05 -- and join us in toasting today's Birthday Band:

Renaldo "Obie" Benson (1936-2005): Vocals, The Four Tops
Reach Out I'll Be There, I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)

Junior Walker (1931-95): Vocals, Junior Walker and the All Stars
Shotgun, (I'm a) Road Runner, Come See About Me

Rod Argent (1945): Keyboards, Zombies/Argent
She's Not There, Time of the Season, Hold Your Head Up

Alan White (1949): Drummer, Yes/Plastic Ono Band
Owner Of A Lonely Heart, I've Seen All Good People, Roundabout

Boy George (1961): Singer, Culture Club
Karma Chameleon

I (heart) Brad Delp

2011-06-12T00:12:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

We couldn't find anybody more qualified to
write about Boston's lead singer Brad Delp
(above) than Boston native Al Tays, a regular
contributor on Sundays at the Sanctuary.

A very bittersweet birthday observance today. Brad Delp, the original lead singer for Boston, was born on this day in 1951, so he would have been 60. But sadly, a deeply depressed Delp committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in March 2007.

I've never heard another band that sounded anything like Boston, nor another singer that sounded anything like Delp. His vocals, combined with band founder Tom Scholz's guitar and engineering genius, produced a magical sound. As a native Bostonian (if you count the suburbs), I'd love their sound even if they had called themselves New York.

Scholz once described the chemistry between his instrumentation and Delp's vocals thusly: "It went from a guitar lick that didn't mean a thing to a real song as soon as he opened his mouth." The combination resonated with rock and roll fans everywhere. Boston's self-titled debut album, released in 1976, sold more than 17 million copies, making it at the time the biggest-selling debut album ever (it was later surpassed by Guns N' Roses' "Appetite for Destruction").
The aftermath of Delp's death has been a regrettable tangle of accusations and lawsuits involving current and former band members and Delp's family and friends. Unfortunately such animosity is not uncommon among bands, especially long-lived ones, but that doesn't make the latest chapter in the story of Delp and Scholz and Boston any less depressing.

No, Delp's birthday should be a time of celebration of a great band and a great singer. So click on the video, smile at the hair and the 'staches and let the music take you back to 1976. On this day, it's OK to look back.

A list from LaLa Land

2011-06-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

Lowell George and Little Feat could smoke
many of the bands on this list.

Thanks to our buddy Wayne "the Train" Shelor for passing along this list of the 50 Greatest L.A. bands (according to Los Angeles Magazine). We admit we have a much easier time ranking bands from our old Wisconsin hometown. It would go something like this:

1. The Lonely Ones
2. The Probes

(If we included country and polka bands it would get a bit more interesting. And now we MUST mention The Rhythm Playboys. Just thinking about Dewey slamming the piano keys on "From a Jack to a King" brings a wistful tear. )

L.A., now that's a different deal. It's a daunting task just to compile a comprehensive list of bands that sprang up in L.A., much less put them in some logical order of significance. Otherwise how could you completely forget about Little Feat? Ah, but it's not our place to shoot holes in this list. Of course that shouldn't stop you, so here you go:

1. Doors
2. Beach Boys
3. Byrds
4. Buffalo Springfield
5. Los Lobos
6. Seeds
7. Guns N' Roses
8. Monkees
9. War
10. N.W.A.
11. Crosby Stills & Nash
12. Germs
13. Metallica
14. X
15. Van Halen
16. Go-Go's
17. Eagles
18. Red Hot Chili Peppers
19. Chambers Brothers
20. Suicidal Tendencies
21. Tool
22. Bangles
23. Slayer
24. Neil Young & Crazy Horse
25. Rage Against the Machine
26. Maroon 5
27. Black Flag
28. Jane's Addiction
29. Toto
30. Mother's of Invention
31. Runaways
32. Berlin
33. Linkin Park
34. Poco
35. Turtles
36. Oingo Boingo
37. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
38. Motley Crue
39. Sparks
40. Blasters
41. Association
42. Flying Burrito Brothers
43. Ozomatli
44. Canned Heat
45. Love
46. Weezer
47. Megadeth
48. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
49. Sublime
50. Surfaris

Unmasking J Mascis

2011-06-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Come on wait for me
Is it done ...
Come on wait for me
Is it done...

We are not disciples of Dinasour Jr., so we admit we were only vaguely familiar with frontman J Mascis and his brand of indie rock. (Mostly we have never been able to get past the fact that he bears a striking resemblance to long lost Aunt Jane.) Now this is quite an admission since Mascis has been making his mark as a fret-shredding guitarist and songwriter for nearly 30 years.

It took the release of the acoustic album Several Shades of Why (Sub Pop) to bring Mascis into the Sanctuary's inner sanctum (Sis for those unfamiliar). And now that he is here we are obliged to give the man his due.

Several Shades of Why has a good chance of winning you over. There are contributions from other artists, but mostly this is a solo foray into Acousticville, where the thoughtful strumming and occasional lead riffs leave room for lyrics to be heard and digested. And what quiet, revealing paths they lead us down. Check out the video for "Is It Done," easily the catchiest of the 10 songs, and you'll see what we mean.

Sometimes a great electric guitarist needs to turn down the distortion long enough -- or unplug altogether -- to hear the beating of his own heart. And by doing so the rest of us get to hear it too.

Strum along with Google, Les Paul

2011-06-09T05:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Google and Les Paul you can be a guitar player today on your computer.

To celebrate the guitar innovator's birthday -- he would have been 96 -- Google came up with a clever interactive homepage doodle. For today only you can go to the page and create guitar sounds by moving your mouse across the doodle's strings. Here's a recorded sample: http://goo.gl/doodle/PVV8

Once you're on the page, just hit the record buttom and make your own music.

In Boz we trust

2011-06-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

It barely made Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, logging in at No. 494. Yet Boz Scaggs' self-titled 1969 debut (if you don't count the REALLY early and impossible to find Boz) has plenty of fans, and you can include the Sanctuary in this group.

Many of us didn't discover Scaggs until 1976's Silk Degrees, which included the pop hits "Lido Shuffle" and the Grammy winning "Lowdown." But five albums earlier, recording with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Scaggs provided a glimpse of what would be coming. Duane Allman helped make the sessions memorable with his guitar work on bluesman Fenton Robinson's "Somebody Loan Me a Dime" which by itself is worth the price of the album.

Today being Scaggs' birthday -- happy 67th! -- we thought we'd share a more recent video of the Bozman in fine stage form. Get a load of those backup singers -- and hoist a tall cold one to the members of today's Birthday Band:

James Darren (1936): Actor, former teen idol
Goodbye Cruel World

Nancy Sinatra (1940): Singer
These Boots Are Made For Walkin,' Suger Town, Somethin' Stupid (w/ Frank)

Sherman Garnes (1940-1977): Vocals, Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers
Why Do Fools Fall In Love

Chuck Negron (1942): Vocals, Three Dog Night
Joy To The World, Easy to Be Hard, Eli's Coming

Boz Scaggs (1944): Musician, songwriter
Lido Shuffle, Lowdown, Look What You've Done to Me, Georgia, JoJo

Mick Box (1947): Guitar, Uriah Heep
Gypsy, Salisbury, Easy Livin'

Bonnie Tyler (1953):
Total Eclipse Of The Heart

Summer twang

2011-06-08T00:03:00.000-07:00

The best country song about summer? Without much thought we'd give the nod to Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee." And not just because, like Jackson, we used to live way down yonder near the Chattahoochee River in Georgia. That great Telecaster guitar opening gets your motor running and before you know it you're blowing down a country backroad with the music blasting and your sweetie on the bench seat beside you.

We're not the only ones in the "Chattahoochee" camp. Here's a list of the Top 10 summertime country songs at theboot.com:

1. Chattahoochee, Alan Jackson
2. Summertime, Kenny Chesney
3. Strawberry Wine, Deana Carter
4. Something Like That, Tim McGraw
5. Six-Pack Summer, Phil Vasser
6. Barefoot and Crazy, Jack Ingram
7. Summer's Coming, Clint Black
8. Sunshine and Summertime, Faith Hill
9. Summer Nights, Rascal Flatts
10. Sweet Summer Lovin,' Dolly Parton

Click here to read and hear more about the songs. We're not going to argue with this list, but now that we're looking at it we'd also find room for Jackson's great cover of "Summertime Blues."

Because most country fans have seen the "Chattahoochee" video we're going here with Jack Ingram's "Barefoot and Crazy," which brings back memories of a show at the Minnesota State Fair too many years ago...

Getting ready for prime time

2011-06-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

It's hard to imagine that the best bands of the British Invasion ever struggled for success or attention, but it was not an easy go for the Rolling Stones or the Beatles back in their pre-BI days.

Listening to an early Stones' recording of "Come On," which was released on this day in 1963, it's easy to hear what Decca Records thought it had by signing the band. But this was the same company that a year earlier passed on the Beatles (who would later sign with EMI, even after producer George Martin called their music "awful.")

The Stones were raw in 1963 and had no original material, and wouldn't have until after returning from their first American tour in 1964. But they sure knew how to pick their covers: Here are their first five singles released in the U.K. and their top chart positions:

June '63, Come On (Chuck Berry), No. 21
Nov. '63, I Wanna Be Your Man (Lennon-McCartney), No. 12
Feb. '64, Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly), No. 3
June '64, It's All Over Now (Bobby & Shirley Womack), No. 1
Nov. '64, Little Red Rooster (Willie Dixon), No. 1

The Stones wouldn't make a record with original songs on both sides until December 1964, when London released "Heart of Stone/"What a Shame." It wouldn't be long before the Jagger-Richards credit became a juggernaut like Lennon-McCartney.

The summer of Sam

2011-06-05T06:13:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

Count with Al Tays
the things that can be
learned on Sundays
at the Sanctuary:
Uno, dos, tres quatro...

June 5 is a big day for Mr. Assistant Music Blogger, not only because it falls right between the birthdays of Assistant Music Blogger’s daughter and Mrs. Assistant Music Blogger, but because on this date in 1965, one of my favorite songs reached its high point – No. 2 – on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Yes, I’m talking about “Wooly Bully,” that classic piece of pure-fun nonsense by Domingo “Sam the Sham” Samudio and the Pharoahs. It never got to No. 1, but its 18-week run on the charts earned it the position of No. 1 Record of the Year, not a bad achievement in an era when British Invasion acts were king.

Sam, whose background included being a former student of classical music and a former carny, would have been right at home in today’s music scene, where the visuals are at least as important (sadly, in many cases) as the sound. The story goes that Sam originally wrote the song about the dance the Hully Gully, but his label, Memphis-based Pen, feared legal problems because of another song with a similar title, so he changed it to “Wooly Bully,” which he said was the name of his cat.

I never understood a lot of the lyrics to “Wooly Bully,” (let’s not be L-7’s?), and apparently I wasn’t alone. Radio stations whose programmers didn’t understand them either decided to play it safe and ban the song. Their loss.

So count down with me, amigos – Uno, dos, one, two, tres, quatro! and sing along with Sam.

Happy trails to James Arness

2011-06-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

We checked out a few videos this morning to catch another glimpse of James Arness in his legendary role as Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke. They don't make 'em like that anymore -- good TV westerns and men of true grit like Arness, who might have been acting but who could tell? He died Friday at age 88.

This tribute to the towering actor was posted on YouTube three years ago. At least one commentor (naturally) had all sorts of problems with the background music, but we think Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is a perfect match for the montage.

Happy trails, Sheriff.

This Tallstrom is no bum

2011-06-02T00:09:00.000-07:00

We exist here at the Sanctuary to inspire you, so here you go.

You will recognize soon enough that this is not Strumbum playing "Forever Young." For one thing, Strumbum does not use a thumb pick. Secondly, his collection of acoustic guitars, while impressive, does not include a Loef. And when it comes to actually playing the instrument, well, we might as well come clean now.

This is Martin Tallstrom, and we didn't know about him before yesterday. Our bad, because this guy can really play. He plays so well that if you are prone to banging around on a guitar you might, after watching this exquisite sampling, decide to either a) practice harder or b) quit playing altogether.

We challenge you to be inspired.

File under M, for midnight

2011-06-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a great clip of the late, great Gil Scott-Heron, who died last week at age 62. Enjoy the band's sweet music and stick around to hear the poet-singer's set-up for "Is That Jazz" (he comes in at 3:40).

Scott-Heron's music could not easily be compartmentalized. At various times it touched soul, jazz, funk and rap, and was always directed by the spoken word. He mentions that in recent visits to record stores he was discovering his music "in a category called Miscellaneous. It bothers the hell out of me. The alphabet thing would be all right, it'd be under either 'H' or 'S.' You know they can't get that together either."

"In defiance of all the trends we refer to our music as midnight music. We call it the first minute of a new day, say that we badly need some first day music, say that we badly need some new ideas and some new things for our music..."

We surely do. And Scott-Heron delivered.

Benny from heaven

2011-05-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Good thing we have a glass of Memorial Day wine left because we almost forgot to raise a toast today to the King of Swing. Benny Goodman, who brought jazz into our living room and taught us to appreciate the clarinet, was born on this day in 1909.

Check out today's Birthday Band:

Benny Goodman (1909-86): Bandleader, clarinet
Stompin’ at the Savoy, St. Louis Blues, One O’Clock Jump

Pee Wee Erwin (1913-1981): Trumpet, Tommy Dorsey Band

Lenny Davidson (1944): Guitar, Dave Clark Five
Glad All Over, Bits and Pieces, Over and Over, Because

(Nicky) Topper Headon (1955): Drums, the Clash
White Man, London Calling, Rock the Casbah

Wynonna Judd (1964): Country singer
Mama He’s Crazy, Why Not Me, Grandpa (Tell Me ’Bout the Good Old Days)

Add a candle for Mike Porcaro

2011-05-29T00:13:00.000-07:00

Mike in the middle: Playing bass for the Porcaro brothers.

By Al Tays

It's time to wish a happy birthday to Mike Porcaro, the middle of the three multi-talented Porcaro brothers -- Jeff, Mike and Steve.

Mike, who turns 56 today, was the longtime bass player for Toto, until he left the band in 2007 because of increasing numbness in his fingers. Turned out, tragically, that he had ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). The band continues to tour for his benefit.

The Sanctuary goes to seed
on Sundays when Al Tays
and Pumpkin hold court.

The Porcaros, sons of a Los Angeles session percussionist, are a fascinating family, all of them having been inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame. Oldest brother Jeff, who was characterized by Allmusic as "arguably the most highly regarded studio drummer in rock from the mid-'70s to the early '90s", died in 1992 at age 38 after spraying insecticide in his yard. The L.A. County Coroners office listed his cause of death to be a heart attack caused by hardening of the arteries. Youngest brother Steve, a keyboard player, was a founding member of Toto who left in 1986 to pursue songwriting and composing.

Here's Mike talking about growing up in a musically talented family:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4ia7lMQ6Cs&feature=related

Greatest hits of the rock era?

2011-05-28T00:23:00.000-07:00

We owe a debt of gratitude to Dick Clark,
aka America's oldest teenager, but wish he
would have consulted us regarding the
Greatest Hits of the Rock Era.

Even if they had been hamstrung by some really goofy, restrictive rules, even then we don't know how they could have decided on the songs they chose as the Greatest Hits of the Rock Era. Crazy rules like:

-- Must pick one song each from the 50s, 60s and 80s.
-- One song must be by a black artist.
-- One song must be by a duo.

Even with rules like that we don't think it would have been possible to settle on these three songs:

Rock Around the Clock, Bill Haley
Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon & Garfunkel
All Night Long, Lionel Richie

Yet those were the Chosen Three on this day in 1986 during Dick Clark's America Picks the No. 1 Songs. We don't suppose it's any real surprise that American Bandstand, which Clark had hosted since 1957, was canceled not long after. VH1 and music videos, after all, had became all the rage.

We do, however, miss learning the steps to dances like the Watusi and Frug, and watching our favorite artists lip-synch their hits.

A birthday Nod to Bob

2011-05-24T00:04:00.000-07:00

I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other times it's only me
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand

We never really HEARD these words until Lucy Kaplansky sang them. That's the way it can go with the great works of the poet Bob Dylan. Interpretations of his music are often refreshing and occasionally illuminating. Not to suggest that anybody tops Dylan while performing his words and music, but there have been some truly outstanding covers that leave their own lasting imprints.

Two obvious ones are "Mr. Tambourine Man" by the Byrds and "All Along the Watchtower" by Jimi Hendrix -- which Dylan has said he was overwhelmed by. It's a good time to mention that previously here at the Sanctuary we touted Jimmy LaFave's brilliant live version of "You're a Big Girl Now."

And now today, on the occasion of Dylan's 70th birthday, we are delighted to have another album of Dylan songs performed by other artists as tributes to the man and his musical genious. Red House Records has released A Nod to Bob 2, which includes Kaplansky's tender turn on "Every Grain of Sand," and LaFave -- perhaps the finest interpreter of Dylan's music -- doing a cool number on "Not Dark Yet." The truest reading among the 16 offerings is delivered by the Pines on "What Good Am I," which will make you think Dylan is chiming in when it's really the obedient voice of Benson Ramsey.

Here's the complete lineup:

1. What Good Am I, the Pines
2. Just Like a Woman, John Gorka
3. Mama, Let Me Lay It On You, Hot Tuna
4. Every Grain of Sand, Lucy Kaplansky
5. Lay Down Your Weary Tune, Storyhill
6. Ther Days of Forty-Nine, Spider John Koerner
7. Dirt Road Blues, Pieta Brown
8. Buckets of Rain, Danny Schmidt
9. House of the Rising Sun, Guy Davis
10. Jokerman, Eliza Gilkyson
11. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, Cliff Eberhardt
12. It Takes a Lot of Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry, Ray Bonneville
13. Born in Time, Meg Hutchinson
14. Not Dark Yet, Jimmy LaFave
15. Mozambique, Peter Ostroushko
16. Walkin' Down the Line, Robin & Linda Williams

A Nod to Bob, Red House's original birthday tribute to Dylan, became one of our favorite albums of 2001. After just a few listens the new installment appears to be on a similar track.

Señor guitar slinger

2011-05-22T00:02:00.000-07:00

By Al Tays

Look for Al Tays
to ruffle just the
right feathers on
Sundays at the Sanctuary.

We come today to sing the praises of Carlos Santana. Not a new concept, certainly, but in noting that Santana's "Maria Maria" was in the midst of a 10-week run at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 on this date in 2000, I am reminded that Santana, who has entertained us all since the 1960s, helped ease the pain of what this hopelessly-stuck-in-the-'70s fossil considered an especially barren time in contemporary music.

First, there was "Smooth," Santana's monster hit (with Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty) off the Supernatural album. How monster was "Smooth"? Well, it spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the end of 1999, making it the last No. 1 song of the 20th century and, incredibly, Santana's first No. 1 hit.

"Maria Maria," off the same album, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 8, 2000, and stayed there for 10 weeks. Recorded with vocals from the R&B duo The Product G&B, "Maria Maria" is evocative of "West Side Story," which is always a good thing. The Latin beat is infectious, but it's Santana's guitar playing -- on both an Alavarez Yairi classical acoustic and his signature PRS electric -- that puts the song over the top.

But enough blah blah blah. Have a listen, and join me in thanking the guitar gods for the gift of Señor Santana.

A sentimental journey

2011-05-21T00:34:00.000-07:00

Good morning, and Happy Judgment Day.

It's supposed to end for us today, the world as we know it. According to one broadcast evangelist who has been wrong before, the destruction will begin with earthquakes that ravage our planet and make listening to music with a turntable virtually impossible. There may be time, however, to grab a few favorite CDs.

And that brings us to today's question: What would (will) be your doomsday listening choice? Something topical like Skeeter Davis' "End of the World" or R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)"? Or maybe you'll just decide to go up in flames with a favorite artist (in which case we'd strongly consider Neil Young's "Everybody Knows This Nowhere," which is not only timely but also defiant.)

Right now, just in case, we're rounding up a few of our alltime favorites. These change from week to week, but if the end really is near we're giving a final listen to "Moonlight Serenade," "What a Wonderful World" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Not bad for starters -- or enders, as it were.

Call us sentimentalists.

They got it wrong

2011-05-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Check out the video and answer this question: Do you think we've seen the last of Haley Reinhart?

We don't believe so. She may have been bounced from the American Idol competition last night, but third place in a reality TV show competition doesn't eliminate you from future recording contracts and possible fame. Not if you have the chops Haley brings to the stage (or piano top in this case).

But either Scotty McCreery or Lauren Alaina will now have the upper hand jump-starting a professional career when Season 10 concludes next week. We wonder if the finalists saw the recent news that Carrie Underwood is now the biggest earner in Idol history, having sold 12,296,000 albums and more than 18,482,000 digital tracks since she triumphed in Season 4.

Look at him go

2011-05-19T00:43:00.000-07:00

Who didn't want to give the skins a kick after hearing Ron Wilson's high-energy solo on "Wipe Out," a rock 'n' roll staple from 1963. We've never been enamored by drum solos, but this is an exception.

Surf music became the rage in the Sixties, thanks in part to the Glendora, California based Surfaris. "Wipe Out" made it to No. 2 on the Billboard chart in '63 even though it was pressed as the flip side to "Surfer Joe." (now look at him go).

Here's a video from a 1987 concert in Vancouver during which Wilson -- the only original member of the Surfaris at this time -- shows his stuff. He would die two years later, on this day (some sources list May 7), of a brain aneurysm.

Watching Scotty crow

2011-05-18T00:17:00.000-07:00

Can Haley Reinhart, left, and Lauren Alaina
derail the Scotty Express? Tune in tonight.

When we last weighed in on Season 10 of American Idol the Sanctuary's Rapid Rankings looked like this:
1. Scotty McCreery
~~2. James Durbin~~
3. Haley Reinhart
4. Lauren Alaina
~~5. Casey Abrams~~
~~6. Jacob Lusk~~

We weren't surprised to see Casey Abrams and Jacob Lusk eliminated in successive weeks, but last week provided a true shocker when rocker James Durbin, the prohibitive favorite who said he only wanted to "give metal a chance," couldn't muster enough votes to hang around. That means the Final 3 includes two girls, both of whom have been impressive in recent weeks. (If this were a sporting competition analysts would be saying Haley Reinhart and Lauren Alaina are "peaking at the right time.")

But getting past Scotty McCreery won't be easy for the upstart girls. Even though two of the most talented and successful Idol winners have been females (Kelly Clarkson in Season 1 and Carrie Underwood in Season 4), there have only been three in all. We're not even sure what became of the other one, Jordin Sparks, who won Season 6.

Do we really care? No. To reference lyrics from a favorite song by the Vidalias, "we're just an innocent bystander Lord, waiting to take the next train out of town." But it sure was fun using the Blogger strikethrough function and some color type.

If you do happen to follow Idol, we recommend checking out the coverage by Washington Post TV columnist Lisa de Moraes, whose online posts are more entertaining than the show itself. See for yourself by clicking here.

Horns o' plenty

2011-05-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

On Chicago Magazine's list of the 40 greatest records by Chicago-based artists you will find releases by Kanye West, Liz Phair, R. Kelly, Andrew Bird and Lupe Fiasco. You will not find anything by Steve Goodman or Buddy Guy. Seriously, who compiles these lists?

We were wondering how Chicago (the group) stacked up because it happens to be the anniversary of their debut album's release. Yep, Chicago Transit Authority hit the stores on this day in 1969. We remember CTA as a defining moment in music history when horns met fuzz guitar, jazz met rock and the fusion was pretty spectacular.

But Chicago, the city, has a very rich and diverse musical heritage and limiting a list to 40 artists is at best problematic, and at worst, well, just plain impossible. But that's what happens when a magazine is celebrating its 40th anniversary. So here's hoping Chicago Magazine makes it to 50 and its list improves!

We wouldn't have relished this task.To make room for the likes of Paul Butterfield, Curtis Mayfield, Ramsey Lewis and Muddy Waters some worthy people were going to get left off. But not Naked Raygun, Screeching Weasel, Tortoise -- all of which cracked the Top 40 at the expense of Goodman, one of the greatest songwriters from any city or country in the world.

Meanwhile, CTA -- which isn't even our favorite Chicago album -- rates no better than No. 17, just below offerings by Big Black, Earth Wind & Fire and Cheap Trick. As for No. 1, that was bestowed upon Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, a fine album but the best of the best ever from Chicago? What in Willie Dixon's Chess Box is going on here? Check out the list here.

A song that never pales

2011-05-15T00:33:00.000-07:00

More than 10 million copies
of "A Whiter Shade of Pale"
have been sold, making it one of
the most popular singles ever.

By Al Tays

Is there a more mysterious song than Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale"? Methinks not. Nor a more haunting melody than Matthew Fisher's Hammond organ riff, which was inspired by J.S. Bach's "Air." (This is the kind of thing that might actually make me give classical music another chance.)

We bring this up because on this date in 1977, the Harum played what was thought to be its last concert date, at New York's Academy of Music. It turned out to be a false alarm, as a reconstituted PH began touring in 1991 and is still skipping the light fandango today.

Procol Harum is often thought of -- incorrectly -- as a one-hit wonder. The band had a second hit in "Conquistador." It was part of PH's first album, released in 1967, but was redone with the Edmonton Symphony Orchesta in 1972. That version got to No. 16 in the U.S.

Still, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the band's defining song. released on May 12, 1967, it reached No. 5 on the U.S. singles chart. Ten years later, it was honored, along with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," by the inaugural BRIT Awards as Best British Pop Single 1952–1977. "Best British Pop Single" during an era that included the British Invasion? Think of all the contenders these two songs beat out. Amazing.

But back to mystery. The name Procol Harum supposedly came from a cat owned by a friend of the band's original manager. The phrase has a Latin connection, too, but it's WAY too complicated to go into here. Vestal Virgins? Hey, that's what Google is for.

I don't need to look this up, though. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is one of my favorite songs. I even like Annie Lenox's cover. So you'll have to excuse me now -- I have to get out my Casio keyboard and start learning that melody. Here's to you, Johan.

We're bullish on the Sheepdogs

2011-05-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

Note: This is going to sound like "the dog ate my homework" but ... Blogger was down for two days and we lost all of our new material, including this rave-up on the Sheepdogs. It might be too late to cast a vote in the Rolling Stone cover competition, but it's never too late to learn about a great band. Check these guys out.

We can't say we're all-out rooting for the Sheepdogs to make the cover of Rolling Stone. That kind of manufactured notoriety reminds us of American Idol finalists who are often very talented but cursed to wander the world with the creepy stigma of Reality Show Creationism.

On the other hand ... just in case this exposure gets the band out of Canada and into some American venues where we can see them perform, we're casting our vote right now. You might want to cast yours, too, after hearing what these furry guitar slingers from Saskatchewan bring to the stage.

It's Round 3 of Rolling Stone's "Do You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star." The field has been narrowed to four bands: the Sheepdogs, the Empires of Chicago, Lelia Broussard of Los Angeles and Fictionist of Provo, Utah. The final two will battle it out at Bonnaroo for a chance to grace the magazine's cover. Fame and fortune is almost certain to follow.

We've got a soft spot for the Sheepdogs, whose jamming guitars, thumping base line and tight harmonies remind us of the best days (and nights) of the Seventies. The band's list of influences includes the Allman Brothers, Humble Pie and Free, and it sounds like they put those in the blender, added a dash of Blind Faith, and hit the "pulse" button. To learn more about the band click on http://www.thesheepdogs.com/ or go to http://www.myspace.com/thesheepdogs.

We had been wondering for some time what became of the great rock-a-boogie sound of that era, and turns out it's been percolating north of the border for some time. The Sheepdogs released their third album Learn & Burn in 2010 and appear, with all of this heightened exposure, primed for a leap into the mainstream. If they can just make it to Bonnaroo the world will surely learn.

Farewell to a Walker brother

2011-05-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

His name wasn't Walker (it was John Maus). He didn't perform with brothers (it was Maus, Scott Engel and Gary Leeds). And the group went totally against the grain by finding success as Americans playing in the U.K. during the British Invasion.

None of this detracts from our admiration of the Walker Brothers, in particular the amazing voice of John Walker (aka Maus). "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" -- with its rich vocals and Spector-like sound -- easily ranks as one of the great songs of the era even if it ranked no higher than No. 13 on the Billboard's Hot 100 in 1966. It did top the chart in the U.K. where the lads enjoyed Beatlesesque popularity during their brief run.

We were sorry to hear of John Walker's passing over the weekend at age 67. We searched for a fitting video tribute and pretty much tapped out. The Walker Brothers' exceptional sound really did come from the studio and couldn't be replicated in live performances. See for yourself by clicking on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eAxCVTMJ-I