Mr. E’s Beautiful Show
September 24, 2010
Saw the Eels last night on the first few dates of their U.S. tour (at The National)— wow does he have a blues-rock band behind him this tour*. Impressive show, and of all things he did a blistering cover of “Summer In The City” (kinda cool given our recent conversation about the singles of 1966). Also a standout was the Encore’s “Baby Loves Me” and the earlier-set’s “Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues” retooled to fit “Louie Louie.”
- Dean (@dbrowell)
* Last time I saw him it was 2002 and he largely played a toy piano beside P.J. Harvey’s Joe Gore on bass while a Mime opened the show.
The Stunning Singles of 1966 & A Random Week
September 4, 2010
Email exchange from Rebel Records:
how many of these songs have you actually heard?
’66 was a pretty amazing year for singles; not sure the criteria in picking these, but “mostly” great (tommy roe i could do w/o in general; pet clark kind of throw-away). the roots of punk and psych can be traced to pushin’ too hard and you’re gonna miss me
pardon my nostalgic moment–(how bout cee-low’s new single?):
- Happenings – See You In September
- Turtles – Hey Baby
- Yardbirds – Happenings Ten Years Time Ago
- Lovin’ Spoonful – Summer In The City
- Shadows Of Knight – Gloria
- Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels – Devil With A Blue Dress
- Syndicate Of Sound – Little Girl
- Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 – Mais Que Nada
- 13th Floor Elevators – You’re Gonna Miss me
- Temptations – Ain’t Too Proud To beg
- Bobby Hebb – Sunny
- Troggs – Wild Thing
- Love – My Little Red Book
- Animals – Don’t Bring Me Down
- Johnny Rivers – The Poor Side Of Town
- Tommy Roe – Sweet Pea
- Swingin’ Medallions – Double Shot Of My Baby’s Love
- Paul Revere & The Raiders – Hungry
- Easybeats – Friday On My Mind
- Crispian St. Peters – Pied Piper
- Electric Prunes – I Had Too Much To Dream last Night
- Who – Happy Jack
- Tommy James & The Shondells – Hanky Panky
- Seeds – Pushin’ Too Hard
- Petulia Clark – Sign Of The Times
And me:
LOVE Cee-lo’s new one.
I counted 6 that I couldn’t recall lines or licks from, not sure if that’s good or bad. But that’s pretty ridiculous that these are all from the same year. There’s at least one of my all-time favorites (“Ain’t To Proud to Beg”) nestled in here and lots of really strong favorites (“Summer In The City” is one of those hard-rock-before-there-was-supposed-to-be-hard-rock tracks I’ve always been a fan of– the first 20 seconds breaks it down the way the last 20 seconds of most songs try too hard to emulate).
For whatever reason I’ve been watching old Jools Holland episodes on my Verizon cable’s on-demand (not sure if you have concert.tv for free on your home cable, give it a look) – found an old 1992 episode with Mary Chapin Carpenter and a star-studded Indigo Girls (with Souixie’s Budgie on drums, Bob Dylan’s violinist and the bassist from B-52′s).
Musically I’ve been all over the map this week. From a reggae version of “Country Roads” by Toots and the Maytals to a new solo set by the former NIN knob-turner Alessandro Cortini (“Sonoio”) – to a weird reprisal in my collection of Living Colour. Don’t know what’s gotten into me.
This week I get back to the concert-going after a few weeks off — get to see Black Keys with The Whigs opening. Looking forward to it…
- Dean (@dbrowell)
A note to Rebel Records about the last couple of days:
Two nights at The National in Richmond produced two very different but enjoyable shows…
On Thursday we saw Interpol. More on that in a second but let me lift up one of their openers: The Postelles (FANTASTIC!) and down another, Twin Tigers (AWFUL Sonic Youth knock-off).
Interpol tried to pull a hattrick and appear on Letterman the same day they were playing Richmond, but storms near DC screwed them up. The management saw what was unfolding, and with second-opener the Postelles starting deliberately late they still didn’t buy enough time. They offered refunds for anyone that couldn’t wait. Interpol did eventually land in Richmond but didn’t take the stage until midnight. They were apologetic but returned our patience with a positively blistering set – I can’t praise them enough – and also did a super-rare-for-them second encore. We left that venue at 2:30am but holy crap was it worth it. A potential disaster became a really, really special show.
Last night we saw Devo. It was entertaining, but I also felt like I was watching Dungeons & Dragons The Musical – it was as if there was a million in-jokes flying and I wasn’t in the know. They were terrific, their young nimble drummer being nearly as much of a spectacle as the LEDs behind them. Amazingly they played “Whip It” about halfway through the show and to their credit kept everyone in enrapt attention afterwards. I’m still sad they didn’t do their cover of, “Workin’ In a Coalmine” (from the Heavy Metal soundtrack). At the very end Mothersbaugh donned a weird plastic mask of an overweight child and completely lost most of the crowd in a falsetto extemporaneous speech about Michael Jackson – not the softest landing.
Up next: Arcade Fire with opener Spoon and then I’m actually (gasp!) on a slight hiatus from shows in most of August…
- Dean (@dbrowell)
P.S. Interpol setlist for playlist building at home:
On Music & Home
June 28, 2010
I was actually looking for some lyrics and stumbled on a blog that featured these quotes:
“I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there’s something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It’s the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part…”
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
“Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel.”
—Hunter S. Thompson
Incidentally the blog is really, really cool: and I suggest you check it out “I am Fuel, Your Are Friends” Blog.
But here are the lyrics I was actually looking for:
[Her:]
Alabama, Arkansas,
I do love my ma and pa,
Not that way that I do love you.[Him:]
Holy, moley, me, oh my,
You’re the apple of my eye,
Girl I’ve never loved one like you.[Her:]
Man oh man you’re my best friend,
I scream it to the nothingness,
There ain’t nothing that I need.[Him:]
Well, hot and heavy, pumpkin pie,
Chocolate candy, Jesus Christ,
Ain’t nothing please me more than you.[Both:]
Ahh Home. Let me go home.
Home is wherever I’m with you.
Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome.
Home is wherever I’m with you.La, la, la, la, take me home.
Mother, I’m coming home.[Him:]
I’ll follow you into the park,
Through the jungle through the dark,
Girl I never loved one like you.[Her:]
Moats and boats and waterfalls,
Alley-ways and pay phone calls,
I’ve been everywhere with you.[Him:]
That’s true.
Laugh until we think we’ll die,
Left with on a summer night,
Never could be sweeter than with you.[Her:]
And in the streets you run afree,
Like it’s only you and me,
Geeze, you’re something to see.[Both:]
Ahh Home. Let me go home.
Home is wherever I’m with you.
Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome.
Home is wherever I’m with you.La, la, la, la, take me home.
Daddy, I’m coming home.(Talking)
Him: Jade
Her: Alexander
Him: Do you remember that day you fell outta my window?
Her: I sure do, you came jumping out after me.
Him: Well, you fell on the concrete, nearly broke your ass, you were bleeding all over the place and I rushed you out to the hospital, you remember that?
Her: Yes I do.
Him: Well there’s something I never told you about that night.
Her: What didn’t you tell me?
Him: While you were sitting in the backseat smoking a cigarette you thought was gonna be your last, I was falling deep, deeply in love with you, and I never told you til just now.[Both:]
Ahh Home. Let me go home.
Home is wherever I’m with you.
Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome.
Home is where I’m alone with you.[Him:]
Home. Let me come home.
Home is wherever I’m with you.[Her:]
Ahh home. Yes I am ho-oh-ome.
Home is when I’m alone with you.[Her:]
Alabama, Arkansas,
I do love my ma and pa…
Moats and boats and waterfalls,
Alley-ways and pay phone calls…[Both:]
Ahh Home. Let me go home.
Home is wherever I’m with you.
Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome.
Home is where I’m alone with you…- Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, “Home”
Dig?
- Dean (@dbrowell)
I thought I’d make a point to share some of the standout musical experiences of Bonnaroo this year, especially by bands you may not know. We’ll be occasionally coming back to the Roo well for perspectives and sharing, but this is a decent start:
First up, a really energizing band I caught was Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (their website here, Twitter here). The band is a somewhat amazing ensemble that appears to double in sound as songs progress. There’s a clear frontman in Alex Albert, but even his leadership is clouded, delightfully, by the swarm of the band. (You might be familiar with Albert’s other effort, Ima Robot.)
#RVA Update: Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros visit Richmond on July 17th at The National.
Be sure to check out the Largehearted Boy blog for Bonnaroo downloads, bootlegs and streams.
- Dean (@dbrowell)
P.S. Big thanks to “Wolfman” Jess for letting me know I should check out this band at Bonnaroo; always great taste, Jess.
Tommy James & a Funny Twist
May 20, 2010
A note from Rebel Records with a fun twist:
useless/interesting/strange-but-true:
1963, Niles, Michigan-based tommy james and the shondells (formed in junior high) records a throwaway single, “hanky, panky,” that becomes a big local hit, but no national action.
group loses interest, breaks up; james works in a record store and does music after-hours.
2 years later, james gets a frantic call from a pittsburgh deejay–he’d unearthed the original “hanky panky” single, started playing it at sock-hops and on the air. it was a big hit in pittsburgh, and he needed james and the shondells to get up there immediately for appearances.
ready to rock, james packs up and head out w/o a band, picks up a local band to back him, gets signed to nearby “big time” indie label roulette (notoriously “mobbed-up”), recuts “hanky, panky” which then proceeds to become a #1 national hit!
james and “new” shondells then reel off 14 consecutive top 40 hits over the next 3 years.
the name of the pick-up band when james found them?
the raconteurs.
Recent Conversations w/ Rebel
May 5, 2010
Dean:
Found a record store in town I hadn’t visited, came away with some fun older stuff (some boogie woogie piano, a couple of Sam & Dave 45′s, and a live Blue Oyster Cult — a weak moment–, plus Joshua Tree on vinyl for $1).
Rebel Records:
I AM intrigued by the new Bird and the Bee: Tribute to Hall & Oates. shockingly good, making old warhorses sound like new songs.
May bring many around to admitting that those guys knew how to write a great pop song . . . I was a big fan, put them aside for many years, and now am prb to the point where I could fall back into certain spots in their catalog . . . things like Sarah Smile hold up like classic soul.
…
A little while ago in the NY Times, the irony of pretty big splash for new Brad Mehldau/Jon Brion jazz collaboration “highway rider” . . . it reads fairly high-brow (a lot of classical influence) . . . but, not sure I’ve mentioned prev–these were the guys who did an impromtu after-hours jam following Brion’s normal fri. “trip” at Largo in west Hollywood the first time we were there, which must’ve been 6-8 yrs. ago, at least.
I barely knew Mehldau’s name, we were both exhausted, so we left about halfway thru their first song. it was so quiet (about 10 people maybe) that i heard Brion half-whisper “well, i guess they were impressed.”
In the story, a lot is made of how influ. their first collab (“largo”) was among young jazzers . . . I DID regret having to leave, even tho I had no real idea of how big a deal the 2 of them together were.
National’d.
April 20, 2010
I’m trying to think of how you describe the sound of The National. This is in honor of their two-night stint (April 22nd and 23rd) at a venue also called, incidentally, The National.
Here’s what I came up with:
What do you guys think? Think of something better than my obtuse analogy: “”What the Blake Babies would sound like if we chained them to Interpol for 14 days.”"
- Dean (@dbrowell)
The following is a letter Dean wrote to Bob Lefsetz, in response to one of his great “Lefsetz Letter” emails/columns entitled, “Context.” (Lefsetz Letter is one of those things, by-the-way, you should subscribe to; I don’t always agree with him, but his perspective and attention to the music industry in this state of flux is a rare find.)
The “Context” letter should be posted to the archive soon, but he had made a salient point about big artists swinging for the fences (with mixed results) all of the time:
It’s like we’ve got an endless game of Home Run Derby. Played in ever smaller stadiums. First on network, then cable and now the Internet. In other words, we’ve got plenty of people swinging for the fences and few in the stands paying attention. Where does this leave the creator?
And his point on trying to enter the industry:
Now, you’re lucky if you can even start. And that might be the biggest moment you ever get. Your initial hit. Give that “Rico Suave” guy credit, he disappeared when the going was good.
I thought about this for awhile on my way-too-early flight this morning, and wrote this response:
Bob,
I agree with you, sort-of. When you’re talking about a stadium-filling mega-hit (even if it only briefly fills a single stadium), you’re spot on.
But then I think of a band like The Whigs. Sure they’ve been doing yeoman’s work, touring in an insane fashion, churning out great but underappreciated albums… And to boot they’ve also been supported by a label that gives a shit (ATO).
I’ve seen them go from tiny cafe stage at 2am at Bonnaroo (just a few years ago) to opening for Kings of Leon at some of those stadiums with digital ads blinking around them for radio stations that would never play their music.
Meanwhile, their service to fans grows. During a recent pre-order for their new album they offered a “Mystery Package” option where fans had no real idea what they would get for a few extra bucks (over and above other pre-order swag like 180grab vinyl, tee, signed poster, etc.). They just contacted the “Mystery” buyers to let them know that just part one of their prize would be 2 free tickets to an upcoming show of their choice, access to soundcheck, and hanging out with the band. And this was just part one! And not for some ridiculous $1,000 concert package, or even a $100 premium over the cost of a ticket. An accessible, test-the-casual-fan, pulse-taking few extra bucks ontop of the price of a new album.
I’d love to know how many they sold.
It’s not to say they haven’t made any missteps (why does anyone make a music video anymore- Canada?) and obviously I don’t know if they’re even making a living with what they’re doing. But my point is: they started. They’re not trying to swing for the fence, they’re a good, solid utiility player that is working their way around the bases with solid singles, some RBI, slick base stealing when the gettings good and I would say with the latest album their learning to hit triples. Might they retire without a Mark Mcquire season of home runs? Sure, but a lot of people’s favorite players are the scrappy ones burning with longevity. The Steve Garvey’s, the Billy Wagner’s, even the Cal Ripken’s. I feel we can have that in the music world even though so many just want to hit the walk-off homerun (and then subsequently linger in the afterparty longer than anyone cares).
Anyway, just my two cents. I’m fine with the fence-swinger failing or that atmosphere imploding. The Black Keys’ and Dr. Dogs of the world are being noticed, but it is a tough slog. Will they ever be pouring champagne on co-eds in a hottub? Maybe only in Athens, GA or Bonnaroo – but it looks like Jay-Z wants to be there now too.
Dean Browell
Stevie Wonder’s Bassist & Dr. Dog
April 7, 2010
RVA Records (Dean)
Tonight I fell back in love with the bass line for Stevie Wonder’s, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” – it’s so unassuming but does so much work. It’s the girl-next-door of bass lines that’s easy to fall in love with.
Rebel Records
Almost certainly James Jamerson, the bottom on 90% of Motown’s tops. That one, and “I was made to love her” (I was high top shoes and shirttails, Suzy was in pigtails . . . by song’s end, Stevie’s so effusive he goes third person—“little Stevie ain’t gon leave her”) are my top of the pops from Mr. Stevie, tho his catalog goes on great for days, as do I!
Oh, and new vinyl! I can heartily recommend the new Dr. Dog LP, Shame Shame:
rvarecords
dbrowell
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