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Post by berkley on May 20, 2021 15:08:10 GMT -5
One of my biggest musical regrets is missing Kristofferson when he played at a local club here in the early 90s. I was out of town at the time or would have been there for sure. It would have been a great setting for him too. Silver-tongued Devil might be my favourite song by him, though there's a lot of competition.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 20, 2021 15:37:32 GMT -5
One of my biggest musical regrets is missing Kristofferson when he played at a local club here in the early 90s. I was out of town at the time or would have been there for sure. It would have been a great setting for him too. Silver-tongued Devil might be my favourite song by him, though there's a lot of competition. I've only seen him once and that was playing with Merle Haggard in probably 2010. Haggard was ostensibly the main act, but they mostly did a dual concert. This was at the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts in Boise. Great acoustic venue but not intimate in any way.
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Post by berkley on May 20, 2021 21:28:35 GMT -5
One of my biggest musical regrets is missing Kristofferson when he played at a local club here in the early 90s. I was out of town at the time or would have been there for sure. It would have been a great setting for him too. Silver-tongued Devil might be my favourite song by him, though there's a lot of competition. I've only seen him once and that was playing with Merle Haggard in probably 2010. Haggard was ostensibly the main act, but they mostly did a dual concert. This was at the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts in Boise. Great acoustic venue but not intimate in any way.
Most of my favourite live shows have been at clubs or small venues where I was standing near the stage rather than sitting farther back in the stands; or, if sitting, then very near the stage, with no standing-room intervening; or, if a larger venue, then outdoors and I managed to force or connive a position near the stage.
The common factor seems to be that nearness and ... what, intimacy? I shy away from the word, since I don't mean to presume any kind of personal connection with the performer as opposed to their performance, their music. Still, no better alternative comes to mind.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 20, 2021 21:37:20 GMT -5
I've only seen him once and that was playing with Merle Haggard in probably 2010. Haggard was ostensibly the main act, but they mostly did a dual concert. This was at the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts in Boise. Great acoustic venue but not intimate in any way.
Most of my favourite live shows have been at clubs or small venues where I was standing near the stage rather than sitting farther back in the stands; or, if sitting, then very near the stage, with no standing-room intervening; or, if a larger venue, then outdoors and I managed to force or connive a position near the stage.
The common factor seems to be that nearness and ... what, intimacy? I shy away from the word, since I don't mean to presume any kind of personal connection with the performer as opposed to their performance, their music. Still, no better alternative comes to mind.
I prefer shows in small venues. Unfortunately you take what and where you can get when you live a long way from anywhere. The acts I’ve seen in what I’d classify as small venues are Steve Earle, Junior Brown, Son Volt and Phillip Walker. The Walker show was one of favorites small venue, pretty small audience and I got the chance to talk to Phillip for a short when the band took a break.
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Post by impulse on May 21, 2021 8:53:07 GMT -5
Depends on the show. One of, if not the, most fun concerts I went to was a 3,000-ish capacity general admission metal show. Big name within metal but not household name. It was a total blast.
I saw Weird Al in a performing arts center. Rows of comfortable seats, etc. Great for that kind of show.
I've seen A listers in arenas. I generally don't like those venues. The sonics in the enclosed space are awful.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 21, 2021 9:47:14 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1971 - The other genres.
2. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
I'm sick to bloody death of rock music. Not rock & roll, that exuberant sound that burned brightly for a few years in the 1950s and then died in a corn field in Iowa in 1959. But, rock, the lumbering monolith that Hollywood and Madison Avenue have decided are the soundtrack of every generation and that the same 100 songs by the same 40 artists must be played cradle to grave into infinity. If you want to continue to listen to your Zepp and your Who, that's fine. Be happy. Me...I'm bored. And have been for over two decades.
There are, however, a handful of exceptions. The Rolling Stones are one of them. Not that I really go out of my way to listen to the Stones any more. But if they come on I won't shut them off. Which brings us to 1971 and Sticky Fingers. This album is simply brilliant and a return to a more blues influenced Stones than we had seen in some time. Many of the songs were written when the band was hanging out with Gram Parsons and the influence of Parsons and country sounds can definitely be heard on "Dead Flowers" and "Wild Horses."
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Post by impulse on May 21, 2021 10:48:31 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1971 - The other genres. 2. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers I'm sick to bloody death of rock music. Not rock & roll, that exuberant sound that burned brightly for a few years in the 1950s and then died in a corn field in Iowa in 1959. But, rock, the lumbering monolith that Hollywood and Madison Avenue have decided are the soundtrack of every generation and that the same 100 songs by the same 40 artists must be played cradle to grave into infinity. If you want to continue to listen to your Zepp and your Who, that's fine. Be happy. Me...I'm bored. And have been for over two decades. There are, however, a handful of exceptions. The Rolling Stones are one of them. Not that I really go out of my way to listen to the Stones any more. But if they come on I won't shut them off. Which brings us to 1971 and Sticky Fingers. This album is simply brilliant and a return to a more blues influenced Stones than we had seen in some time. Many of the songs were written when the band was hanging out with Gram Parsons and the influence of Parsons and country sounds can definitely be heard on "Dead Flowers" and "Wild Horses." I am about as sick of most rock as you are with a few exceptions. That is a classic Stones album, and while I am more or less bored with them, too, I will never skip Bitch. Probably my favorite Stones song behind Gimme Shelter and maybe Paint it Black. It's not super remarkable on the surface or anything, so I know it's probably not a common choice, but man, if this song isn't cool swagger in audio form, I don't know what is.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 21, 2021 11:45:35 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1971 - The other genres. 2. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers I'm sick to bloody death of rock music. Not rock & roll, that exuberant sound that burned brightly for a few years in the 1950s and then died in a corn field in Iowa in 1959. But, rock, the lumbering monolith that Hollywood and Madison Avenue have decided are the soundtrack of every generation and that the same 100 songs by the same 40 artists must be played cradle to grave into infinity. If you want to continue to listen to your Zepp and your Who, that's fine. Be happy. Me...I'm bored. And have been for over two decades. There are, however, a handful of exceptions. The Rolling Stones are one of them. Not that I really go out of my way to listen to the Stones any more. But if they come on I won't shut them off. Which brings us to 1971 and Sticky Fingers. This album is simply brilliant and a return to a more blues influenced Stones than we had seen in some time. Many of the songs were written when the band was hanging out with Gram Parsons and the influence of Parsons and country sounds can definitely be heard on "Dead Flowers" and "Wild Horses." I am about as sick of most rock as you are with a few exceptions. That is a classic Stones album, and while I am more or less bored with them, too, I will never skip Bitch. Probably my favorite Stones song behind Gimme Shelter and maybe Paint it Black. It's not super remarkable on the surface or anything, so I know it's probably not a common choice, but man, if this song isn't cool swagger in audio form, I don't know what is. I usually won't go out of my way to listen to the Stones. But I won't turn them off if they happen to come on. With 95% of everything else that's "classic rock" it's an instant good-bye. I do have Dead Flowers on a couple of playlists (both by the Stones and by Townes Van Zandt).
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Post by impulse on May 21, 2021 12:11:04 GMT -5
Yeah, I hear you. Queen gets decent play in my house because my wife likes them, too, and the kids don't mind them. Plus they are excellent, of course. Every once in a while I remember I like Aerosmith a lot and listen to them for a week and then forget about them for a few months.
Other than that, not much classic rock gets spun here. Been there, done that.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 24, 2021 11:37:46 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1971 - The other genres.
1. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
I'm not sure what's left to say about this album. It's unquestionably the most important soul album of all time. And it's one of the best albums ever. It's an album that Berry Gordy didn't want to happen, but Gaye refused to record until Gordy agreed to release "What's Going On" as a single. The rest of the album followed and Motown's tired hit machine formula was turned on its head by an important monumental album.
This is one of my all-time favorite albums. It's a nearly perfect evocation of the time, but it still resonates with every new problem we've yet to solve.
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Post by Mister Spaceman on May 24, 2021 21:41:38 GMT -5
Happy 80th birthday, Robert Zimmerman!
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 25, 2021 11:24:12 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1981.
Because it's forty years...and why not?
Let me start by saying that 1981 was a pretty lousy year in music, at least by my measure. But then, I am totally burnt out by rock from this era. Your mileage, as always, may vary.
10. Merle Haggard - Rainbow Stew: Live at Anaheim Stadium
Live albums are weird things. There are live albums that are stone-cold classics (even Hagg has one in Okie From Muskogee) but most are cash grabs or a way for a performer to make a quick album to fulfill a contract.
Rainbow Stew is a slightly better than average live album. It stands out because Hagg augments the Strangers with three members of Bob Wills' former Texas Playboys and a horn section. So he gets an almost big band sound on a number of the songs. And the song selection is an interesting mix of his most classic cuts with some newer songs.
What you get is a good live album that is different enough to be interesting with a good mix of songs. Solid, if not spectacular.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 26, 2021 9:31:20 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1981.
9. John Anderson - John Anderson 2
I talked a fair bit about Anderson earlier with regard to his new album from 2020. This isn't by any means a great album. But with the "urban cowboy" phase still going strong and country radio dominated by the likes of Ronny Milsap and Barbara Mandrell Anderson was a breath of more traditional country fresh air that stood out and presaged the neo-traditionalist movement that was still a few years away.
His version of Billy Joe Shaver's "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal" is simply a classic track and his choice to do a traditional cover of Lefty Frizzell's "I Love You a Thousand Ways" told us that Anderson had gravitas that didn't center on the mechanical bulls at Gilley's.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 27, 2021 10:13:14 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1981.
8. Doc & Merle Watson - Red Rocking Chair
If Doc Watson ever made a bad album I'm not aware of it. But Doc was prolific and around for a long time, so who knows. Red Rocking Chair is a good Doc & Merle album. It's not great. It's not ground-breaking. It's just perfectly fine. And that's okay. In a year like 1981 that makes it one of the albums from that year that I'm most likely to give a listen.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 28, 2021 10:50:25 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1981.
7. Billy Joe Shaver – I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal
Billy Joe Shaver was one of the cornerstones of the Outlaw Country movement. To an extent that was based on his work as a song-writer as his songs, as recorded by the likes of Waylon Jennings, were a cornerstone of that movement. His own 1973 album "Old Five and Dimers Like Me" was one of the foundational albums for outlaw country. But he was fairly quiet as a recording artist from that time until 1981 (putting out two albums on small labels) until his Columbia debut with this album.
Billy Joe had an ace up his sleeve with this album in the person of his son Eddy. Eddy would provide lead guitar here and for the next twenty years for Shaver. The title track was an instant classic that has been covered time and again. But the album is solid from start to finish. And since we had Anderson's interpretation of the title last time, I'll leave this one with the album's closer. "The Road" is one of Shaver's most contemplative songs and while it never became a standard I think it gives us a look in to what made Billy Joe tick.
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