Tom Waits, Downtown Train

The wealth of material available on YouTube is just amazing, all of your favorite songs anytime you want. Have to post more of them. Here's Tom Waits, doing his classic Downtown Train.









Ray Charles, In The Evening

Straight ahead blues and jazz from 1963.






Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino rock out.

Came across this outrageous clip of three musical legends all playing piano together. And serious, rock'n'roll piano too. My goodness. Apparently from a Fats Domino DVD. Ronnie Wood, Paul Schaeffer and his band too.









Happy Valentine's Day.

In Spite of Ourselves by John Prine, one of my favorite long songs. Sung here with Iris Dement.









Dylan, Not Dark Yet and Trying to Get to Heaven, 2000

Here are a couple of late Bob Dylan compositions, Not Dark Yet and Trying to Get to Heaven, both performed in 2000. Some of his darker ones, not exactly uplifting. But I want to put up examples of his later songs that most people aren't familiar with, they tend to grow on you. There seems to an awful lot of good stuff from his tour of England in 2000. Lyrics here: Not Dark Yet and Trying to Get to Heaven.




Not Dark Yet, Sheffield, Great Britain, 2000





Trying to Get to Heaven, Birmingham, Great Britain, 2000


Note the reference to Woody Guthrie's This Train is Bound for Glory. Bob's a long way from Woody's " This train is bound for glory, Don't carry nothing but the righteous and the holy. This train is bound for glory, this train." He's been on the train, ridden it a very long way and back again, and he knows that there's more than just the righteous and the holy on it, and now he's waiting for what's next, not exactly looking forward to it. He visualizes getting into heaven the same as trying to make it onto a train pulling out of town, trying to run fast enough to make it before the boxcar door closes.






Bob Dylan, Like A Rolling Stone, 1966, 1998.

Two clips of Dylan doing Like A Rolling Stone. A classic one from 1966 backed by the Hawks (the Band), and one over 30 years later, with the Rolling Stones. Both historical clips, the first is as wild and intense as any music ever laid down, Dylan is in a zone, way out there, but totally on top of the music. And the second is just awesome, Bob and the Stones rocking out in Rio in front of 650,000 fans, a great performance, they really nail it and Mick even gets Bob to laugh. Watch them here, or better click on them to go to YouTube and then watch them on the full screen.







I've been on a Dylan kick lately, especially since I've found what a gold mine of Dylan performances there is over at YouTube. The power of the music helps balance out the horrors of the war and politics.






Bob Dylan video - Series of Dreams.

Here's a truly outstanding Bob Dylan song, Series of Dreams, a genuine Dylan masterpiece that hardly anybody's ever heard. Watch it closely, there are hundreds of images that come and go very quickly. I just love this song, one of Bob's best ever.




This one is from YouTube, which has tons of Dylan performances over the years. But Sony/Columbia also has a page with some more great Dylan videos. "When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky" and "Sweetheart LIke You" are also quite excellent. The Sony page also links to lots of other Sony videos and music. I guess I'm really out of it these days. I don't recognize even the names of most of the bands.






Bob Dylan, George Harrison - Peggy Sue and more.

Stumbled onto this great clip of Harrison, Dylan and others jamming in LA back in the 80s. Pretty rough and sloppy, and it just sort of collapses at the end, but great to see George clearly having such a good time just making music with his friends. I do believe that the big black man in the background is Taj Majal. Must have been one heck of a night. Curious that this particular configuration of the Wilburys is referred to as the Silver Wilburys. At one point the Beatles, for a very brief period, were called the Silver Beatles.



Speaking of which, if you've never seen this clip of "My Back Pages" from Dylan's 30th Anniversary Celebration at Madison Square Garden in 1992, it's got Harrison, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Roger McGuinn and more. A truly great performance. That's G.E. Smith, Al Kooper, Jim Keltner, along with Booker T and the MGs backing them up. Quite a lineup.








Wolfgang's Vault, awesome new music site with vintage concerts.

Via Expecting Rain, the center for all things Bob Dylan related, I found this incredible new web site full of vintage concerts available for free listening. It turns out the great concert promoter Bill Graham made master soundboard recordings of just about all of the shows he ever produced. These tapes have been purchased by these folks who have been transferring them to digital form and making them available for listening off the web. They're all at Wolfgang's Vault (Wolfgang was Bill Graham's real name).

I can't believe the quality and variety of the music here, over 300 concerts so far and more coming on a regular basis. Graham made a point of showcasing and combining many different performers in his shows, so this isn't just rock music, but all different kinds of music, jazz, country, folk, rock, reggae, you name it. Miles, Emmylou Harris, great early Sly and the Family Stone, Pentangle, early Who, Asleep at the Wheel, Steve Earle, nearly every rock performer you've ever heard of extending well into the 80s, lots of singer songwriters of all types, it goes on and on and on. All in a very well designed web site which is easy to use, and quick to stream. Extremely impressive. I'm listening to this 1968 concert by Sly and the Family Stone as I write this, very early stuff just before they made it big, and my toes are tapping so hard I can barely write. Wow! In addition to the individual concerts, there's a radio stream where they play selected cuts, lots of assorted other goodies as well. No Dylan though, except this one show where he plays with Neil Young, Levon Helm, Rick Danko and other friends, but there's all the live Dylan you'll ever want over at Expecting Rain so that doesn't matter.






Tom Waits - Jersey Girl

Haven't put up any YouTube videos yet, but figured since yesterday was Tom Waits' birthday why not start with this classic I found recently. One of the best songs ever. If you like this one there are several others from this gig, which I believe was in Paris 1980. Tom at his best.








Bob Dylan's radio show.

Bob Dylan's got a new radio show on XM satellite radio, Theme Time Radio, "Themes, Dreams and Schemes", and it's just great, and you can find playlists and maybe even links to download the shows here. Each show has a theme. I particular recommend the Baseball episode, and maybe the Summer one for a hot evening. Amazing journeys through American music, he knows and loves it all.






Tom Waits' favorite records.

The Guardian Observer now has a blog, and they went and asked Tom Waits to list his favorite records. Some nice choices, including these three. I don't recall ever hearing about Sam Phillips. Have to check that out. Apparently he listed a lot, which they're running as a series.


Leadbelly sang of rivers even. "Sometimes I live in the country, sometimes I live in the town, sometimes I get a great notion, to jump in the river and drown," from "Goodnight Irene." So sad to think of someone like that spending so many years in prison.

The Observer Blog is very good. Nice to see a major news site getting on the blog train so much. The Guardian also has a news blog. Plus pointers to many blogs, British and otherwise.






David Crosby interview.

Frontline interview with musician and more David Crosby. He talks about a lot of things. I guess like a lot of longtime musicians he's not too happy with the current state of the industry.

The article is entitled "The way the music died." I don't know if I like that title though. I think it's a bit exaggerated. I'm listening to great internet radio as I write. Doesn't sound dead to me.








The Beatles are as popular as ever.

Over thirty years after they split up the Beatles are still going strong, and thoroughly dominate the "classic rock" release market. The Guardian reports on the latest releases, and their apparent popularity among a new generation.


"They've been going in and out of style, but they're guaranteed to raise a smile."

I'm probably just an old fogey, but their music still sounds fresh to me. And it illustrates the continued value of art products, which can sell forever. The same as old films, old books and so on. Not only will their music continue to sell, but I'll bet it inspires all sorts of new art works of various kinds. Theater for example. Sooner or later someone will make a Broadway musical out of the Yellow Submarine story and music. It's just perfect for it.

Old software of course has no value whatsoever. You can't even run it anymore.






Kazaa sues record companies.

AP reports that the Kazaa file-sharing service is suing the big record companies for using unauthorized copies of its software to search for so-called copyright violators. What an interesting twist. It's not clear if the suit includes the RIAA or not. Hopefully it does since they're acting as a front for the corporates.








Legal music downloads.

Via Kuro5hin.org is this page with links to tens of thousands of legal music downloads. Along with links to the music itself are discussions of the various issues involved.

And yes, despite all of the corporate propaganda, it is perfectly legal to put music on the web and let people download it. Same as listening to the radio or watching broadcast television.






Johnny Cash links.

A few Cash links. I may add more as I see them.

Here is his official site.

This page from Lost Highway Records, his last record label, has his latest video, Hurt, as well as several music selections. What a sad, sad song "Hurt" is. My goodness. Why so many regrets from someone who was so successful in life and accomplished so much?

Man In Black net. Dedicated to the music and lyrics of June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash.

Columbia's Legacy division, which has been releasing early recordings of his. In particular a previously unreleased 1969 live concert, reissues of several classic albums and apparently much, much more. Mr. Cash left a huge legacy of recorded music behind. Absolutely enormous.






FarmAid webcast tonite.

The annual FarmAid concert, hosted by founder Willie Nelson, will be webcast today from 4 to 11 pm. www.farmaid.org. That's Ohio time I think.

Ah, I checked it out. They're asking for a $20 "donation" in order to see the show. Sounds like a great lineup. Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Sheryl Crow, Brooks & Dunn, Emmylou Harris and others.

Unfortunately it's for Windows Media Player 9 only. Strange. I would imagine that Mac and Linux users would be more likely to support activities aimed at helping victims of corporate American greed than Windows users. Especially since we're the ones whose computers actually work well enough to handle a webcast. Most of the Windows peoples I know are hassling with their virus toys, and don't really have the time for entertainment. You'd think Willie would have more respect for the outlaw spirit.

Well, hope it's a good show.






Masked and Anonymous.

Well Bob Dylan's new movie, Masked and Anonymous, is out. Doesn't seem to have been much publicity, not for the A-list cast, but I imagine it'll get discussed. That would seem to be the point.

The NY Times has an interesting review of it. I also saw one in Salon but haven't had a chance to read it yet. Looked good though, probably worth the day-pass thingie they have.

I remember going to see Renaldo and Clara when it was released in the mid 70s. It got roundly panned by the critics, but I thought it was great. The music alone was awesome. But this one sounds much more professional. And with a stellar cast: John Goodman, Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange and more.

Sounds like a bleak vision of life tho, and especially of America. It also sounds like Dylan is having fun with it all too.






Willie Nelson's 4th of July picnic, 30th anniversary.

Want to see some great shows on the 4th and 5th? Willie's annual picnic this year features The Dead, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Leon Russell and many more. Sounds like quite a time. I imagine tickets will be going fast, if they're not gone already. Only $49 though if you can get one, both days $80. Children 10 and under are free. Such a deal.






.Joni Mitchell calls music industry a "cesspool"

The BBC reports that in a recent interview with Rolling Stone she said that she is "ashamed" of being part of the industry, and goes to far as to say that she may never record again. At least not if it means signing any more contracts with the monsters.


Unbelievable. If a star of her magnitude can't get honest treatment from them, then who can? She also accuses Geffen Records of never paying her any royalties when she was part of that label. They claim, as always, that her advances were always greater than she was owed. But that then leads to the question of the competence of the music management itself: if they can't make money on a Joni Mitchell record, then how good does something have to be before they can? If they weren't making money then why did they keep putting out the records?

I remember years ago when James Garner sued the company that produced "The Rockford Files" for never paying him any royalties. The company claimed that tho the show was on for five years, it never made any money. And Garner wondered why, if that was so, they kept renewing it. Given that it was (and is) pretty much a network policy to cancel any show that doesn't make money.






Belated Happy Birthday to John Lennon.

Yesterday, October 9, was his birthday. Craig's Booknotes has some great links, including this neat site: Absolute Elsewhere - The Spirit of John Lennon.

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