After collecting rock albums, books and rock magazines for over forty years it's about time to open up the archives and put some of my favorite music on the big net. The music here is intended for review purposes only and is not a substitute for the original record company product. Please contact us directly regarding the removal of any potentially infringing material. READERS: Please use us as a buyer's guide and support the artists.
It’s december again. Time flies when you love listening to music…. December has provided some beautiful music through the years. Here’s an example. Musicians from various countries get together to perform Airto’s Missa Spiritual.
Here’s is an excerpt of that Missa. No Flora Purim this time but other musicians are none the less then Gil Evans on synthesizer, from Belgium: Philip Catherine on guitar, all the way from India: Tiruk Gurtu on percussion, and Fredy Santiago & Airto from Brasil.
The live concert took place in the old grand Saint Martin church in Cologna. German WDR orchestra and Vocal Ensemble. The german broadcast company did a fine job of recording this Misa. Here’s an excerpt of that concert…
Here’s some other great music of Airto from an earlier post >>>>
Here’ s the complete Try-Out concert of Her Majesty at the ZinIn Theatre in Nijverdal on sept. 30th, 2023. Click on the ZinIn logo for the video. Theme of the show was the music from San Francisco/West Coast of the late 60’s & early 70’s. The spoken words are in dutch, sorry! Featuring music of The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Steve Miller, Steppenwolf and a whole lot more. Enjoy the show !
This was a good year for listening to live music of Daniel Norgren.
The first concert was with his band at the Burgerweeshuis in Deventer. Last time he was here he did a concert in the garden at the first Koningsdag (King’s day). The venue was sold-out and the concert was top!
Teaser:
At the end of the year a second concert. This time he played solo at the Odeon theatre in Zwolle. We had beautiful seats at the balcony. The audio of the concert is at the end of this message. The video has mixed footage of the concert and of nature and Zwolle. (Click on the picture below to watch the full concert).
While going through the old blog messages i noticed that this beautiful song ‘Waves’of Holly Miranda with Marques Toliver no longer available was. So in searching for the original i found this cover of Ivy Rose. Fascinating stuff !
I’ve watched you walk so many times Of all the years that made us blind Why you, why you let it all Be like some prison in your mind
It doesn’t need to be It doesn’t need to be
So where do the waves go, my love Where do the waves go, my love
Sonic or liquid, I don’t know Sonic or liquid, I don’t know
You must speak your life into existence This intent is so much more That just a means to End all of this suffering This needless pain that stains your face
It doesn’t need to be It doesn’t need to be
So where do the waves go, my love Where do the waves go, my love
Sonic or liquid, I don’t know Sonic or liquid, I don’t know
After collecting records (LP’s) for over 40 years I decided to put a big part of it for sale on the Discogs site. So far only the titles from A to D are published. I love to sell the rare items to collectors and proud that my seller’s rating is still a 100% !
And now it’s time for the next step… As I am growing older, and my kids are listening to a total different kind of music, I decided to put the core collection for sale too.
No easy step but the sweet memories will always be there. So here they are: beautiful and rare items of The Grateful Dead.
Records, books, clothes & memorabilia. You will find it all here Not just products but also a Grateful Dead Blog
And this is just the beginning. More ‘core’ collection will follow: records of Robert Wyatt, Fela Kuti, Gong and John Martyn. So, please. Stay connected if you’ re interested !
The music of Robert Wyatt is always interesting, beautiful, chaotic, strange or melodic. For example: O Caroline, is just a simple love-song but heart touching because of the melody and honest lyrics.
Here’s another Robert Wyatt song, this one is from 1985. A catchy bass line but listen to the lyrics. It’s more than 50 years later and we all have become indeed consumers and the working class is as good as dead, shattered over the different popular parties… Old rotten hat did it again !
They say the working class is dead, we’re all consumers now They say that we have moved ahead we’re all just people now There’s people doing ‘frightfully well’ there’s others on the shelf But never mind the second kind this is the age of self They say we need new images to help our movement grow They say that life is broader based as if we didn’t know While Martin J. and Robert M. play with printer’s ink The workers ’round the world still die for Rio Tinto Zinc And it seems to me if we forget our roots and where we stand The movement will disintegrate like castles built on sand Robert Wyatt “Age of Self”
This old Pixie Head believes in the music of Gong and in Flying teapots. Unfortunately Daevid Allen, frontman of Gong, has passed away some years ago. And I have two beauiful teapots but so far they never did fly…
Flying teapots
Recently i found this YouTube video of the Hadouk Trio via the Gong Facebook group. It’s featuring Gong member Didier Malherbe but its the music what makes it so fascinating. All different styles come together, from World music to Africa and from Gong into Jazz or Psychelic…
Long time ago dutch television did an item on the Grateful Dead. VARA TV broadcast an entire episode of their RAPIDO series about the band and their followers. The language is dutch but we are used to subtitles so a lot of the footage is in english too. Please click on the image to watch the video.
The flying pot head pixies got my attention again. While going through the albums on the attic I found this little gem. Never gave it much attention thinking that it was a Gong Compilation album…
But it is actually a 1970 german re-release of the original 1969 album of Daevid Allen and Gilly Smyth with, among others, Didier Malherbe.
It has become quite an collectable item nowadays and i think also because of the nice album cover and artwork of Daevid Allen (see photo’s below).
The top right corner of the frontcover has a cut-out star with the letters “Supergroups” above.
frontcover
Daevid Allen’s Gong – Magick Brother Label: Metronome – MLP 15.372, BYG Records – MLP 15.372 Series: Super Groups Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold Country: Germany – Released: 1970
Recorded September and October, 1969, Studio ETA & Studio Europa Sonor, Paris and first published in 1969 on BYG Records. All tunes by Gilli Smyth.
Early Morning Side
Mystic Sister (Voice – Tasmin Smyth) 5:54 Change The World (Bass – D. Gewiffler) 4:09 Glad To Sad To Say 3:45 Chainstone Chant : Pretty Miss Titty (Bass – Bare Phillips) 4:49 Fredfish : Hope You Feel OK 4:32
inner cover (a)
Late Night Side
Ego 3:58 (Bass – E. Freeman, Piano – B. Green) Gongsong 4:10 (Bass – D. Gewiffler, Piano – E. Freeman) Princess Dreaming 2:57 (Bass – B. Phillips, Voice – Tasmin Smyth) 5 & 20 Schoolgirls 4:30 Cos You Got Green Hair 5:06
inner cover (b)
Credits:
Art & Liner Notes – Daevid Allen Drums, Tabla – Rachid Houri Flute, Saxophone – Didier Malherbe Voice, Guitar, Bass Guitar – Daevid Allen Voices, Space Whisper – Gilly Smyth
In the mailbox today: 2 Grateful Dead items. A jigsaw puzzle of the AoxomoxoA cover and the 7″ single ‘One More Saturdaynight/Bertha’. Bought on the dutch eBay called Marktplaats.
The seller also included a photo of two heroes of mine: Paul Kantner and David Freiberg (live, 2012, NL). Thanks Hans.
Jefferson Starship Live at De Lakei, Helmond (NL) on 2012-10-26
1.Somebody To Love 2.Sunrise–>Have You Seen The Saucers? 3.Let’s Get Together 4.Wooden Ships 5.Fresh Air 6.Miracles 7.Crown Of Creation 8.Count On Me 9.Lawman 10.Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil 11.White Rabbit 12.Volunteers
This afternoon i was driving the van of work on the highway, listening to the radioshow of Humberto Tan. Every friday afternoon two hours of interesting guests and of a very nice personal music choice.
This song came on, sung in Portuguese and english. No Shazam while driving so i was hoping Humberto would mention the musicians. I was lucky and could remember ‘Vanessa’ and Ben Harper. A little search at home came up with this song:
In dutch it is called a ‘smartlap’. It’s a sad song that brings tears to your eyes. It doesn’t happen often, about 3 to 5 times a year but here’s a list of five songs that have made me cry. Please, cry along with me…
1.) Grateful Dead – China Doll
“A pistol shot at 5 o’clock, the bells of heaven ring. Tell me what you’ve done it for. No, I won’t tell you a thing”
Dedicated to Bart, Anton, Jan & Johan
2.) Vic Chesnutt – Flirted with you all my life
“If the audience is into it, I feel, yeah, i am worthwhile.”
“A song i wrote about a little boy, who was neglected and abused”
4.) Purple Mountains – All my happiness is gone
A suicide note, each note aches with sorrow and resolve.
5.) Herman van Veen – Weet je nog
Kees is dead and looks from heaven upon earth. He sees two tracks on all places he has been. except on those places where life became complicated. There he sees only one track and he asks his wife: “why did you leave me when things got complicated”. No, Kees. His wife answered. That’s where YOU couldn’t cope. That’s where I carried you !
A beautiful song from a classic UK band: Traffic. It reminds me a lot of the Grateful Dead jam music. This video is from a reformed TRAFFIC (1994), unfortunately without Chris Wood. The late great Jim Capaldi wears a beautiful Grateful Dead T-shirt and Steve Winwood is in top-form.
Who needs a music contest where they redo classic songs again and again while there are so much original singers/songs on the web? I never heard of ‘throat’ singing… But listen to this. A father and daughter playing and having fun together with original music.
2020, such a strange year. Halfway september and it’s tropical warm. In the summer we had the longest tropical period too but people had to stay mostly indoors because of mrs. Co Rona. And soon the leaves will slowly turn red and the days will be a lot shorter. Autumn is almost here…
Jefferson Starship – Roswell UFO Festival 2009, Tales from the mothership
And now the story continues… I recently bought the Jefferson Starship album – Roswell UFO Festival 2009, subtitled Tales from the mothership volume 2. 2016 UK limited edition 16-track double LP issued exclusively for Record Store Day pressed on Black & white Vinyl It was a cheap buy, €13,- for a double album with coloured vinyl in a limited edition version. Side 0ne has most songs of the side 2 of the original 1970 release. I’m very interested in the ‘Dark Star’ and ‘Your Mind has left your body’ versions, originally Grateful Dead songs. also two covers of a Pink Floyd and a David Bowie song, and some Jefferson Airplane classic songs makes this album an interesting buy.
Recorded live July 3, 2009. This album corresponds to disc three of the 4CD set with similar name that was released in 2010 and contains the entire (electric) set two of the show. Median price: €10.59 (on Discogs, sept. 2020). OK, that’s all for the Volume 2 release. But wouldn’t it be nice to get a copy of Volume 1 also…?
So a week later a parcel was delivered with Volume 1. Same cheap price, Lim. Edition in coloured vinyl too. Disc 1 is black, Disc 2 is white. Now the trilogy is complete. This album corresponds to disc two of the 4CD set with similar name that was released in 2010 and contains the entire (acoustic) set one of the show. It also has two Grateful Dead songs played by former Grateful Dead pianist Tom Constanten: Mountains of the Moon and Me and My Uncle. Plus a great version of ‘Wooden Ships’. From the original line-up only paul Kantner and David Freiberg are present again. Median price for this album is € 11,20 at Discogs at the time of writing (2020)
The CD version has also CD1 that contains recordings taken from the rehearsals and CD4 is from the soundcheck (Three versions of Space Oddity there). The vinyl Volume One and Two is the actual live concert.
Text from the press release: “Roswell UFO Parade & Festival Hosts Jefferson Starship Sci-Fi Extravaganza” read the headlines for the annual July 3rd event that took place in Roswell, New Mexico in 2009. Jefferson Airplane founder Paul Kantner and his legendary band Jefferson Starship and special guests, which included original Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten, performed a one-of-a-kind sci-fi concert at Pearson Auditorium in Roswell in honor of the town’s famed annual parade. The group was also bestowed the honor of being the parade’s ‘Grand Martians’ that year and rode atop a special float especially built for them. The entire concert was filmed and recorded, a special programme of science fiction themed compositions and select recordings were performed, some for the first time ever! Now, much to the excitement of Jefferson Starship fans across the globe
In
1991 the late great rock impresario Bill Graham signed on to produce
Blows from a ‘scripted stage play concept’ co-written bu Paul Kantner
and his new manager Michael Gaiman, a lifelong fan. Sadly, Bill was
killed in a helicopter crash and the idea was shelved until Sony
Pictures pitched an ‘option’ for a Blows motion picture in 1996.
Along with Paul Kantner and David Freiberg, Jefferson Starship also features lead singer Cathy Richardson (who played Janis Joplin on Broadway in Love, Janis) and longtime band members Slick Aguilar, Chris Smith and Donny Baldwin. In addition to Grateful Dead’s Tom Constanten, special guests include Pete Sears (the band’s former bass & keyboard player on all their hits), Barry Sless (guitar & pedal steel with Phil Lesh & Friends), former lead vocalist Darby Gould and legendary folk artist Jack Taylor, one of Paul Kantner’s early musical influences.
Housed
in a sealed & stickered gatefold picture sleeve LETV420LP).
Legend
has it that on July 3, 1947, a mysterious object crashed on a ranch
in the New Mexico desert, about 30 miles north of Roswell. The
Roswell Army Air Field at first issued a press release claiming to
have recovered a “flying disk,” with the Roswell Daily Record
running a famous front page story reporting this the next day. But
the RAAF then retracted the statement and said the object was merely
a crashed weather balloon Roswell, we learn, was also home to Uncle
Sam’s 509th Bomb Group, the first and only atomic strike force in the
world at the time. It therefore makes perfect sense that
extraterrestrial visitors trying to size up humanity might take a
keen interest in the area..
Going back in time… Early seventies, former century (November 1970) Everything is nice with this album. The title is epic, the cover, both outside and inside is beautiful, The music, big and simple, very divers. The lyrics ànd the
musicians. Jack Casady’s bass and Grace Slicks’piano are the backbone but Jerry Garcia’s inspired (steel)guitar plying is so uplifting.
The cover featured a piece of Russian folk art from a painted lacquer box, attributed to CCCP (U.S.S.R. in Russian).
The inner dust jacket was decorated with collages of musician photos, writings and doodles. Original pressings included a full-color booklet as well, with lyrics, poetry and drawings mostly done by Slick during the recording sessions and collected daily by Kantner.
It started as a Paul Kantner solo project but it evolved into a real ‘Jefferson’ album. A lot of guest-musicians, most from the bay area. And the sessions led directly to Crosby’s solo masterpiece, If Only I Could Remember My Name, which features many of the same players and was recorded around the same time. But as Davids Crosby first solo album is (now) graded as a masterwork, this album is still mostly overlooked and underrated. Blows Against The Empire didn’t contain a hit single, and so the album has faded from memory over the years. One of the most overlooked records of it’s time.
Based on the works of science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein, particularly the novel Methuselah’s Children. Kantner went so far as to write to Heinlein to obtain permission to use his ideas. Heinlein wrote back that over the years many people had used his ideas, but Paul was the first one to ask for permission, which he granted. The first rock album to be nominated for Sci-Fi’s prestigious Hugo Award ( 2 ever be nominated). Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship. It is also the first album to use the “Starship” moniker.
As
usual the music
critics
were divided over this album. Reviewing in Christgau’s Record Guide:
Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau found Kantner’s
singing and melodies “murky” while believing, “for all
the record’s sci-fi pretensions (does Philip K. Dick actually like
this stuff?) it never even gets off the ground.” He graded it a
C-plus.
It was voted number 850 in the third edition of Colin
Larkin’s All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).
In The Rolling Stone
Album Guide (2004), Paul Evans said while its experimental quality
may have impressed in 1970, the album “now suffers from
concept-album creakiness”.
William Ruhlmann was more
enthusiastic, giving it four out of five stars in his review for
AllMusic. “Kantner employed often dense instrumentation and
complex arrangements”, he wrote, “but there were enough
hooks and harmonies to keep things interesting.”
I remember listening to it on the old record player, age fifteen or sixteen. Cover in the hands and headphones on the ears and the mind wonders off on an epic imaginairy space travel… Blows Against the Empire: a pot-fueled trip through the galaxy, With a stolen spaceship, visiting a place where babies grow in trees…
Here’s
the label info of the two versions i have on vinyl. First the version
which
has title and artist at the bottom of the front
cover:
Paul
Kantner / Jefferson Starship – Blows Against The Empire
Label:
RCA Victor – LSP-4448
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album,
Indianapolis Pressing, Gatefold
Country: US
Released:
1970
Pressing
variation RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
1st
Pressings have 110/130 grams vinyl, not Dyna Flex. Released with
gatefold jacket, Included Inner artwork imagery sleeve and 8 page
Lyrics and illustrated booklet.
Mastering info from stamped
“circle w/ 2 drumsticks” symbol (the mastering stamper for
Artisan) in runout on side 2.
Includes white/black printed inner sleeve and 8-page colored booklet with lyrics and artwork. Only 1970 versions of this release have this booklet with colored artwork.. Cover has title and artist at the bottom of the front. Later reissues have title and artist at the top of the front cover. Catalog number only on the spine of the cover and center labels.
And my second version (reissue) which has title and artist at the top of the front cover:
Paul Kantner / Jefferson Starship – Blows Against The Empire
Label: RCA – LSP-4448, RCA Victor – LSP-4448 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue Country: US Released: 1976
Matrix / Runout: Side 1: ZPRS 9053 37S Matrix / Runout: Side 2: ZPRS 9054 39
Notes Tan label background, estimated release date 1976. There is a small “RE” on bottom left of front cover, Cover (Gatefold) design is arranged different and has “Title/Artist” name on top of cover unlike 1st pressing: Blows Against The Empire Includes the inner artwork sleeve and the 8 page lyrics illustrated booklet, the last page has the # LSP-4448 RE. This vinyl pressing is made with Dyna-Flex vinyl, although not explicitly stated on the label As it has the old LSP-4448 number, it seems to be a transition reissue before the label reintroduced the black label with the dog and the new AFL1-4448 number, which VinylBeat.com dates starting from 1976.
A1 Mau Mau (Amerikon) (Paul Kantner/Grace Slick/Joey Covington) (6:35) a heavy bass driven song to begin the album. Lots of ernergy and the famous sentence: ‘my only office is the park’ and ‘we come to stay!’
Drums – Joey Covington Guitar [Lead] – Peter Kaukonen
A2 The Baby Tree (Rosalie Sorrells) (1:42) a beautiful banjo intro with strange lyrics that could have been written in this Corona era. ‘you gotta watch out if you sneeze’
A3 Let’s Go Together (Paul Kantner) (4:11) again a very different song from the former. This is epic. ‘Wave goodbye to America, say hello to the garden’ Again a strong bass with beautiful piano playing and vocals of Grace Slick.
Banjo – Jerry Garcia Drums – Bill Kreutzmann
A4 A Child Is Coming (Paul Kantner/Grace Slick/David Crosby) (6:15) after the intensity of ‘Lets go together’ this ‘feel good’ song closes side one and brings you back to earth. the break midway in the song is beautiful. The song ends with (again) beautiful bass playing by Jack Casady.
Bass – Jack Casady Guitar, Vocals – David Crosby
B1 Sunrise (Grace Slick) (1:54) a beautiful beginning of side 2. The beauty of a sunrise translated into music.
Bass – Jack Casady
B2 Hijack (Paul Kantner/Grace Slick/Marty Balin/Gary Blackman) (8:18) after the short intro of Sunrise the journey takes off with ‘Hijack’. a piano driven star ship trip, room for 7000 people, searching for Free minds Free bodies Free dope and Free music. You gotta ride said the doctor of space… Hijack the starship
Congas – Graham Nash, Joey Covington
B3 Home (Paul Kantner/Phil Sawyer/Graham Nash) (0:37) soundscape
B4 Have You Seen The Stars Tonite (Paul Kantner/David Crosby) (3:42) this song takes you on the journey. Dream away ! beautiful steel-guitar by Jerry Garcia.
Guitar – David Crosby Percussion – Mickey Hart Steel Guitar [Pedal] – Jerry Garcia
B5 X M (Paul Kantner/Phil Sawyer/Jerry Garcia/Mickey Hart) (1:22) soundscape
B6 Starship (Paul Kantner/Grace Slick/Marty Balin/Gary Blackman) (7:07) and the journey continues. Immaculate intro by Captain Trips on guitar and Harvey Brooks on the bass. Best song of the album !
Bass – Harvey Brooks Guitar – Jerry Garcia Vocals – David Crosby, David Freiberg, Graham Nash
American rock magazine ‘Rolling Stone’ has covered the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia many times. In the late-sixties and early-seventies the reviews and critics were mostly very positive. Mid-seventies to the end of the eighties this changed in mostly negative articles for as much as i can remember. Here’s a link to a post with record reviews from these days I collected and posted long time ago (1992). So old it’s a little out of date… The wave changed again and now the Dead is considered in most magazines and books as the ultimate american rock band. The article that featured this august in the Rolling Stone magazine is about the fifty most beautiful Jerry Garcia songs. It’s a very nice read and listening experience and reading the Stella Blue notes, it explains now why it took me four to five years before this dutch deadhead learned to love these two Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia songs featured here. It took Jerry Garcia too a few hard years with many up’s and down’s before he could understand, sing and play these songs like he did here. (see the liner notes below of the Stella Blue Song). In the article Rolling Stone puts “Uncle John’s Band’ at first place and ‘Dark Star second place. No, I will not argue about the list order, i’m just very happy that with all these beautiful songs ‘Stella Blue’ and ‘China Doll’ have found their place in this list.
Enjoy the music ! (warning: give it some time, these songs must really grow on you. It took me four years ha ha).
From country-rock gems to exploratory jams, from Grateful Dead classics to solo high-points, here’s the ultimate guide to an epic musical life (aug 5, 2020)
By David Browne & Corinne Cummings & Kory Grow & Will Hermes&David Marchese & Bob Sheffield & Douglas Wolk
23 “China Doll,” ‘From the Mars Hotel’ 1974
Hunter originally titled this ballad “The Suicide Song” following a friend’s attempt at taking his own life. But even after it was renamed “China Doll,” Garcia still felt haunted. Accompanied by a harpsichord, Garcia’s guitar creeps in just behind the beat, and he sings as if he’s sighing from another realm. The result is one of his most gripping vocal performances. As Hunter said, “The song is eerie and very, very beautiful the way Jerry handles it.” A later, live acoustic version on Reckoning showed how Garcia could enhance the dark power of “China Doll” by stripping it down even further.
12 “Stella Blue,” ‘Wake of the Flood’ (1973)
When Garcia first recorded this come-down ballad, he admitted that it
was his magisterial melody that appealed to him. “I was so proud of it
as a composer — ‘Hey, this is a slick song!’” he recalled. Only later in
life, after his own ups and downs, did Garcia fully connect with
Hunter’s lyrics about “broken dreams and vanished years,” written in New
York City’s Chelsea Hotel in 1970. “That’s a good example of a song I
sang before I understood it,” Garcia said. “It has a sort of brittle
pathos in it that I didn’t get until I’d been singing it for a while.”
Live, the Dead sometimes played so slowly it seemed to stop time.
Louis Armstrong plays to his wife, Lucille, in front of the Great Sphinx and pyramids in Giza, Egypt, 1961. The Armstrongs were on a U.S. State Department-sponsored Goodwill Tour of Africa and the Middle East. Photo: Associated Press
Wondering what song he’s playing for his wife? I bet it’s his version of the beautiful Pharoah Sanders song “The Creator has a Masterplan”
A good Facebook friend (thanks CJ) got me listening to this song. At first hearing i was surprised by the intro (2 min.), by the outro, and by the pleasant bass-guitar line. I gave a ‘thumbs-up’. But the lyrics kept playing in my head and i had to listen again, again, and again. This is such an intriguing song. It has a pleasant melody but the words are haunting.
“All my happiness is gone It’s all gone somewhere beyond All my happiness is gone”.
I changed my Facebook ‘thumbs-up’ to a ‘Wonderful’ because the song has so much layers. It’s disturbing, pleasant, sad, melancholy, it’s a suicide note. Each note aches with sorrow and resolve and i kept listening over and over.
Reading the YouTube comments i found out that Dave Berman ended his life shortly after finishing this album. This beautiful album ‘Purple Mountains’ was released on July 12, 2019. Nearly five weeks after the album’s release the poet, just 52 years, was found dead at his appartment.
The words and music will always be there!
Friends are warmer than gold when you’re old And keeping them is harder than you might suppose Lately, I tend to make strangers wherever I go Some of them were once people I was happy to know
Mounting mileage on the dash Double darkness falling fast I keep stressing, pressing on Way deep down at some substratum Feels like something really wrong has happened And I confess I’m barely hanging on
All my happiness is gone All my happiness is gone It’s all gone somewhere beyond All my happiness is gone
Ten thousand afternoons ago All my happiness just overflowed That was life at first and goal to go Me and you, and us and them And all those people way back when All our hardships were just yardsticks then, you know You know
It’s not the purple hills It’s not the silver lakes It’s not the snowcloud shadowed interstates It’s not the icy bike chain rain of Portland, Oregon Where nothing’s wrong and no one’s asking But the fear’s so strong it leaves you gasping No way to last out here like this for long
‘Cause everywhere I go, I know Everywhere I go,
I know All my happiness is gone All my happiness is gone It’s all gone somewhere beyond All my happiness is gone
I was planning to do a list of my favorite ten double albums but i could list a favorite top 20 without any trouble. Anyway, result is a top 12 of my favorite double albums in no particular order. Except for #1 off course!!
1.) Grateful Dead – Live / Dead This album started it all in the late sixties/early seventees. The essence of the Grateful Dead Jam band. It doesn’t make any difference if I focus on the guitar, or the bass, or the drums… This band is so together !
2.) Marvin Gaye got divorced and wrote a whole album about that painful experience. “Sparrow, FLY”
3.) Gil Scott Heron & Brian Jackson – It’s Your World Gil is the Father of RAP and a great poet. Brian puts down a great mixture of Funk, Jazz and Rock !
4.) Allman Brothers Band – Live at the Fillmore East The founders of the ‘Southern Music’. Greg and Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, double drums and long songs, magnificent! In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
5.) Harmonium – l’ Heptade A Canadian band singing in French. This is a symphonic album of their songs. My first encounter with the band was the album ‘Cinq Saisons’ Great original music.
6.) Wishbone Ash – Live Dates Oooh, these twin guitars ! I had the privilege to watch the band performing this album live some 40 years later and it still impresses me!
7.) Derek & the Dominoos – Layla and other assorted Love Songs Radio DJ’s had a habit of killing this song when the piano part began. Grrrhhh this made me so mad! Such a beautiful song has to be played from beginning to end.
8.) James Brown – The Payback ‘Mind Power’ Funk op zijn best. Met brothers Fred Wesley en Maceo Parker… WoW, Good Lord, Make it Funky !
9.) Gong – Live etc. In the early days of Internet i got an angry mail of Steve Hillage because i had published a dutch concert review which was somehow critic of a concert. Not this album though, flying pixiess all around !
10.) Al Green – Tokyo … Live ! How much ‘Soul’ do you want? Reverend Al Green will give it to you. What a voice and what a feeling !
11.) The Smiths – Louder than Bombs I used to get on my bicycle to bike to the nearest music shop (15 km) to get the latest 12″ of the Smiths. I couldn’t miss the singles because of the art-work. At home i put the record player on repeat and listen the whole day to the same song
12.) Isley Brothers – Live The tribute to Jimi Hendrix alone is worth the buy of this album. But it has so more beautiful songs on it. Like this one of Carole King.
Ooit een onderwerp op mijn muziekblog: een top 3 met minimale muziek.
Als ik toen deze song van Moondog had ontdekt dan was tie zeker vermeld. Origineel komt uit 1969. Het gaat nergens over… Een paar akkoorden en steeds hetzelfde thema. En dan 26+ minuten lang. Veel mensen worden er hoorndol van, ik kan er wel een uur lang met plezier naar luisteren. Zo’n beetje het zelfde als een hond die lekker op zijn eigen plekje ligt en daar zonder zorgen een dagdeel kan blijven liggen. Moondog forever !
“I hold professor dr. Holger Czukay personal responsible for expanding my mind at a very young age… “
This was a comment i wrote to a YouTube clip of Holger Czukay’s “Boatwoman song”. It’s a song from 1969 of Holger Czukay, bass player and sound explorer of the german band CAN. I have never succeeded in convincing my friends of the beauty of Can’s music. But remember, it’s in the end of the sixties and this crazy professor mixed short wave radio fragments with (very) experimental music. The song listed below is called “Persian Love” and is also a prime example of Czukay’s talent of mixing radio waves into songs. It’s from his first solo album after the group CAN broke up. Unfortunately Holger and drummer Jaki Liebezeit have passed away but this music will last forever !
Even better than the official release, this acoustic version with just guitar, violin and voice. No matter what i am doing… if this song comes up i gonna sit down and listen to the music. Marques Toliver on violin. https://youtube.com/watch?v=k-TIjW7igGw
Ok, this time it did NOT happen in the car while driving but sitting at the desk at home. The radio was on and they played this old song because it is featured in a new TV series (Umbrella Academy?). First i was intrigued by the voice. It reminded me of Amy Winehouse and Billy Holliday but with a true own timbre. Then the simple but beautiful melody of the song got a hold on me. Nothing left to do but listen, listen, and listen… and when the song ended i had to do a search on the YouTube. The composer of the song is surprisingly from an old hippie musician i know from the records from the Flower Power era. Dino Valente. Check out another gem of him: “Gone Again” by the group Quicksliver Messenger Service. The lady singing the song, and playing the guitar is Karen Dalton. She live a short and tragic life. Joni Mitchell was inspired off Karen’s music and she was friends and played with Fred Neil and Tim Hardin. This simple song is from the early seventies so no flashy video’s, just the music and a lot of goosebumps! If anyone is wondering who playing the incredible violin part on this (at the end), its Bobby Notkoff who did a lot of studio work on the east coast in the ’70s.
In the early seventies of the former century i bought a triple vinyl album called “Glastonbury Fayre”. I don’t remember where i bought it and what the price was. I do remember i bought it coz it had my all-time favorite Grateful Dead’s “Dark Star” on side one. The full version of 24 minutes long… This album became the base for listening and collecting other albums by the UK artists on this record. The recordings of most of the acts on this album are actually live recordings made during the 1971 festival but not all… This was thesecond year of the festival, and the first incarnation of the Pyramid stage. The album was originally made to compensate the costs of the Glastonbury Festival and costed only 3 british pounds, only 5000 copies (!) Price now is much more for both the original release as for the reissue too. There was no monetary profit – it was free. Glastonbury Fayre was held at Worthy Farm, Pilton, near Shepton Mallet, Somerset, from Sunday June 20 to Thursday June 24, encompassing Midsummers Day. It was a fair in the medieval tradition, embodying the legends of the area, with music, dance, poetry, theatre, lights and the opportunity for spontaneous entertainments.
Unfortanately through the years i’ve lost the cover and the several inserts. I used the cover as a poster in my bedroom. It has a giant, blurred picture of a pyramid. In those days i was a dutch DeadHead, a fanatic fan of The Grateful Dead. I remember there were only two more in the netherlands so i did most of the correspondence and trading of the audio concert tapes (with slow mail!) with English and American Deadheads. What a coincidence when i bought the re-issue of this album on the dutch side Marktplaats and the seller knew me from the old days. He was one of the two dutch deadheads and i even had visit him once in the eighties to talk about the music of the Grateful Dead. I’ve received the reissue this week and i’m thrilled. This is a fascinating album. Not only because it is a chronicle of the first of the famous Glastonbury festivals, but alsof or the music and the cover art. a DVD of Glastonbury Fayre — The Movie, Peter Neal‘s 87-minute, rarely shown documentary of the 1971 festival was also released.
Good quality vinyl, even a bit heavier, good sound quality, and all the extra inserts are included! First song to play on the record player is not Dark Star however, but the Out Demons Out of the Edgar Broughton Band. Other gems are the other long and trippy songs of Mighty Baby and Gong but all songs are quit interesting.
Gong – Glad Stoned Buried…The song is getting in the groove when a power fall-out occurs. Daevid Allen explains that the whole set consists of one long song but the music after the fall-out seems much more improvised.
Edgar Broughton Band – Out Demons Out I don’t know if the Broughtons are trying to play against the weather or are they singing against the elite because this was a heck of an anarchistic band !
Frits Spits overtreft zichzelf met het radioprogramma “De Taalstaat”. Interessante onderwerpen en veel mooie nederlandse/vlaamse liedjes zoals deze van Rob de Nijs. Pardon, wie? Ja, Rob de Nijs zingt samen met Frederique Spigt haar liedje “ik ben bij je”.
It is said that musical genius’ often get their recognition some 50 to 100 years after their death… This won’t do for Bob Marley. I think he got recognition during lifetime. And then there is James Brown, godfather of Funk. He’s already appreciated and loved by many but i think in time he will be even more appreciated in coming years. And then there is the King Of Africa, Fela Anikulupo Ransome Kuti…. His music is appreciated by a small group of collectors. I am convinced that 50 years from now his music will be recognised as the best music that ever came from Africa !
In the late sixties my niece Jet introduced to some of the strangest music i never heard before. The music of Melanie, Pink Floyd and Neil Young. Melanie was an instant sing-along, Pink Floyd needed some more time but became a life-time favorite too. Neil Young was another story. I was too young to be interested in the lyrics but i found the music awesome. …just didn’t know about his voice… It took some time to appreciate it. Now, more than four decades later, i have the same experience. The music and the words of her songs hit me instantly but it took some time to get familiar with her voice. Now not a day will pass without listening to one of her beautiful songs…! oh, were we lost together you know we were sad that silence in everything from the beginning you’re here I would like to get some rest so the kids no longer have to see us fighting the world is a funny thing well I thought that this was for making love and making my beautiful babies I never thought that I’d look back and see what I didn’t have to give and just what they did not get those beautiful babies oh were we lost together you know we were side by side losing everything we were just a pair of kids oh, the stupid things we did in the madness they were calling the revolution and what a funny thing it is whatI I thought that this was for making love and making more beautiful babies I never thought that I’d look back and find how we left them at the door with their eyes so full of war wars are our family
The late John Martyn wrote so many beautiful songs but I find ‘One World’ one of his most beautiful songs. And it’s not an easy song to cover. But Will Youngs captures the atmosphere perfectly…
When the leaves come falling down… That means my favorite season has begun; autumn. So many different colours, the wind shakes the leaves of the tree, the rain washes you clean, and the evenings become longer and longer again!
Actually, the title should read: “The Art of Directed Improvisation”. It’s band leader John Zorn who decides and directs this band like a modern day Frank Zappa… But he does a miraculous job! Listen to the guitar of Mark Ribot. He looks like an average teacher German Language but plays the guitar like Jimi Hendrix would have played if he was still alive. The pounding drums of Joey Baron adds to the intensity if the music. Strange but beautiful percussion sounds by Cyro Baptista. Never heard such inter-active and intens band playing since the high days of the Grateful Dead.
Please use the first 5 minutes of this song as an intro to prepare a good glass of whisky or a big glass of cold beer. Maybe even make yourself a big, long spliff… Then sit back, relax, pump up the volume and let the music take control. It’s so strong it will take you from Darkness to Light !
Enschede, 25 feb. 2017. Shawn has left his Shapeshifters band in the US of A and has begun an extended European Tour. This concert was recorded in the NiXenMeer Blues Club. Despite severe throat problems which made him cancel the previous two shows this was a great concert. Here’s a link to a review. The full 90+ min. concert (unedited) is now online. You can watch it by clicking the picture below. With a big thanks to Shawn & Michelle for another great night and Mercedes for the video-recording!
Today, on christmas day, the sad news of the passing of George Michael came through. I’ve never had that much with xmas, nor with xmas songs. But “Last Christmas” of Wham was an exception. I could listen to this record all year long. And there are so much other songs of George Michael… Here’s a cover of a beautiful song by Rufus Wainwright. Only 53 years old, Rest in Peace mr. Georgius Kyriacos Panayiotou.
Ok, let’s start the song and see where it ends… It doesnt matter if you focus on the guitar, organ, bass or drums. They mix all together wonderful in this jam of Jerry Garcia’s “Don’t let go”
If you feel the music it doesn’t matter what color you are… here’s a cover of the powerful song ‘Upside Down’ (Fela Kuti) performed by Newen Afrobeat :
The recordings of most of the acts on this album are actually live recordings made during the 1971 festival but not all… This was the second year of the festival, and the first incarnation of the Pyramid stage. The album was originally made to compensate the costs of the Glastonbury Festival and costed only 3 british pounds, only 5000 copies (!) Price now is much more for both the original release as for the reissue too. There was no monetary profit – it was free. 
Glastonbury Fayre was held at Worthy Farm, Pilton, near Shepton Mallet, Somerset, from Sunday June 20 to Thursday June 24, encompassing Midsummers Day. It was a fair in the medieval tradition, embodying the legends of the area, with music, dance, poetry, theatre, lights and the opportunity for spontaneous entertainments.
I’ve received the reissue this week and i’m thrilled. This is a fascinating album. Not only because it is a chronicle of the first of the famous Glastonbury festivals, but alsof or the music and the cover art. a DVD of Glastonbury Fayre — The Movie, 
First song to play on the record player is not Dark Star however, but the Out Demons Out of the Edgar Broughton Band. Other gems are the other long and trippy songs of Mighty Baby and Gong but all songs are quit interesting. 
Interessante onderwerpen en veel mooie nederlandse/vlaamse liedjes zoals deze van Rob de Nijs. Pardon, wie? Ja, Rob de Nijs zingt samen met Frederique Spigt haar liedje 
Now, more than four decades later, i have the same experience. The music and the words of her songs hit me instantly but it took some time to get familiar with her voice. Now not a day will pass without listening to one of her beautiful songs…! oh, were we lost together you know we were sad that silence in everything from the beginning you’re here I would like to get some rest so the kids no longer have to see us fighting the world is a funny thing well I thought that this was for making love and making my beautiful babies I never thought that I’d look back and see what I didn’t have to give and just what they did not get those beautiful babies oh were we lost together you know we were side by side losing everything we were just a pair of kids oh, the stupid things we did in the madness they were calling the revolution and what a funny thing it is whatI I thought that this was for making love and making more beautiful babies I never thought that I’d look back and find how we left them at the door with their eyes so full of war wars are our family 
The full 90+ min. concert (unedited) is now online. You can watch it by clicking the picture below. With a big thanks to Shawn & Michelle for another great night and Mercedes for the video-recording!
