What are you listening to right now?

[Jack of All Parades]

Yet more Lee Morgan-it was a great trip to Newbury Comics over Thanksgiving in Boston- this time "Delightfulee" from 1966 with yet another pun in the title and a slightfully schizophrenic character to the titles on the revised cd- four originals with just a quintet featuring Mc Coy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Bob Cranshaw and Billy Higgins and then 4 others with a big band that has Wayne Shorter, Phil Woods and Philly Joe Jones for starters. Lee works well in both modes but I like the quintet material better mostly because there is a leaden beat provided by Jones to the big band songs. I really like the kick off tune- a West Indies beat- "Ca_Lee_So"; it is most infectious in its exhuberance. Here enjoy it:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... 5884,d.cWE

Bob Cranshaw has gone on to record many such numbers with Sonny Rollins as his bassist of choice.

[Jack of All Parades]

Still more Lee Morgan- today an early Blue Note issue- Volume 2 Sextet from 1956- just 18 years old and leading a session- with Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Paul Chambers and Charlie Perslip. The assurance of his playing is astounding and his early mastery of the mute is breathtaking on the opening tune- "Whisper Not"- it is like the album note says "there was nothing unsure about Morgan, at this or any later point in his career. His muted choruses on "Whisper Not" are precocious in their taste, ideas and technique....". In my cube today I have fallen in love with this ballad from the record- "Where Am I" by Benny Golson- here is a taste:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... 4169,d.dmQ

[Who Shot Sam?]

Jack, I love Lee Morgan. Such exuberance in his playing. Assume you have "The Sidewinder" with the outstanding Joe Henderson on tenor sax and Billy Higgins on drums?

[Jack of All Parades]

Do indeed. Though it is not my favorite as the title track is just too ubiquitous and was almost the ruin of Blue Note as the owners subsequently tried to get all their artists on dates after that time to do a comparable type of tune. Much more love the record that followed- "Search for the New Land" with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock and the aforementioned Mr. Higgins. All Morgan tunes and such a mastery of styles and musical ideas on each song. My favorites are the title tune and "Melancholee".

I have a running arguement with my brother in law- he is a Miles/Freddie Hubbard man while I lean to Morgan and Clifford Brown. Not that I dislike Mr. Davis- I have a healthy respect for all he accomplished but I think Morgan is just a purer talent in his playing.

I bet everyone forgets Morgan's major contributions to this record:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... 4169,d.dmQ

Did you hear? The Town Crier is pulling up stakes in the new year and relocating to my Main Street in Beacon. Looking forward to some good shows in the coming year. My little neck of the woods continues to grow and shine.

[Who Shot Sam?]

"Totem Pole" is actually my favorite off of Sidewinder.

I knew the Towne Crier was planning on moving but hadn't heard Beacon. Good for you, but it gives me a sad.

[Jack of All Parades]

It is difficult to wrap my thoughts around the fact that it is almost 45 years to the day that "John Wesley Harding" was released- December 27, 1967. Who today would release a record that late in the year and one so anticipated as this one? Quite possibly my favorite Dylan album and definitely one of my top favorite rock albums. Its timelessness is enhanced with each play and there is not a week that goes by that I do not give it a spin. Its hard encrusted and gnomic verse stanzas still make my mind work and musically it harkens back to the lyrical ballad tradition of poetry. I cannot listen to songs like "I Pity the Poor Immigrant" or "I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine" without my experiencing a solid tug at my gut. I am giving it a spin this morning and I am suitably filled with its "fiery breathe". It is a supreme accomplishment by a great artist.

Here is a spin of "St Augustine" from 1987 on the NET tour:

http://youtu.be/OOggAMWYjPo

[Poor Deportee]

It is difficult to wrap my thoughts around the fact that it is almost 45 years to the day that "John Wesley Harding" was released- December 27, 1967. Who today would release a record that late in the year and one so anticipated as this one? Quite possibly my favorite Dylan album and definitely one of my top favorite rock albums. Its timelessness is enhanced with each play and there is not a week that goes by that I do not give it a spin. Its hard encrusted and gnomic verse stanzas still make my mind work and musically it harkens back to the lyrical ballad tradition of poetry. I cannot listen to songs like "I Pity the Poor Immigrant" or "I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine" without my experiencing a solid tug at my gut. I am giving it a spin this morning and I am suitably filled with its "fiery breathe". It is a supreme accomplishment by a great artist.

Here is a spin of "St Augustine" from 1987 on the NET tour:

http://youtu.be/OOggAMWYjPo

I think you identify the two key tracks (other than 'Watchtower,' of course, which is so overplayed that it's impossible to hear with fresh ears). 'Immigrant' might be one of the most haunting (and underrated) tracks Dylan has ever recorded. Meanwhile, 'Augustine' has that devastating final verse, yielding a song full of mystery. 'As I Went Out One Morning' is another one that stays with me, for its disturbing elision of slavery and misogyny.

As she was letting go her grip, up Tom Paine did run
'I'm sorry, sir,' he said to me
'I'm sorry for what she's done.'

The great defender of human liberty, apologizing for his chattel in the way I would for a wayward action of my dog.

One of the most startling things about this record is the sheer contrast with what preceded it. Dylan had carried surrealistic excess as far as it could go. A year later, he gives us this austere album of minimalist instrumentation and suddenly rigorous, allusive verse. It's rather unbelievable when you think about it.

45 years ago...wow.

[Jack of All Parades]

Most unbelievable and I have been consistently grateful he went that route in his career.

The snow is falling with some consistency this evening and this has been keeping me warm and in a cheery mood. What a cast with the sound of Hubert Laws on flute, Ron Carter on bass and Steve Gadd, Paul Simon's favorite drummer and Paul Desmond doing his best Phillip Larkin imitation- this has to be the most swinging version of "Autumn Leaves" I have heard:

http://youtu.be/Gsz3mrnIBd0

[Kevin Davis]

Nerd alert: Though it seems part of the same seamless run of shows, the 1987 tour is not generally considered part of the Never-Ending Tour. Among Dylan dorks, Concord 6/7/88 is generally viewed as the beginning of the NET--the Petty and Grateful Dead tours of 1987 are seen as different things entirely, even though he's been touring at more or less the same pace since 1986 (1985 was his last real year off, save "Empire Burlesque" and Farm Aid).

Good performance, though, and wonderful album. I too rank it among the all-time greats. Anyone who has never heard the Rolling Thunder duets between Dylan and Baez on "I Pity the Poor Immigrant," take thee to the YouTubes.

[Otis Westinghouse]

I did but after searching several times found nothing. Please help, would love to hear it, esp. as it isn't on the Bootleg release. I did, however, find this, in which Neil Young performs the immortal Helpless with Dylan in '75 and towards the end Dylan belts out a pretty odd take on his own song reworked as 'Knocking on a Dragon's Door'. There are probably pageloads of comments on Expecting Rain on this.



Jack: I still can't imagine how anyone can play an album on a weekly basis. How many are there in this category for you?

[Kevin Davis]

Here are a couple classic bootlegs which feature it. Both are well-worth the time to download:

Fort Worth, TX-Hold The Fort For What It's Worth-partial sbd (5-16-76) Flacs
Disk 1
pt 1 http://www.mediafire.com/?xaxyhwb7loh4g3d
pt 2 http://www.mediafire.com/?5ey2l3nc53z1fe2
Disk 2
pt 1 http://www.mediafire.com/?7l6w7m8jmx1czln
pt 2 http://www.mediafire.com/?fbg9vng4zxnfom6
pt 3 http://www.mediafire.com/?hqgxh9vyhqad2mb
http://www.bobsboots.com/CDs/cd-h37.html


New Orleans, LA (05-03-76)-LB-4326 MP3 320 & FLAC
FLAC
http://www.mediafire.com/?2dtz06oll742a73
http://www.mediafire.com/?prqu3kqceu2m7lt
http://www.mediafire.com/?tw8c8dxld242o84
http://www.mediafire.com/?4v0j7xgm0df677d
http://www.mediafire.com/?d9ys642b8tvbi5c
MP3
http://www.mediafire.com/?8v0qel63q62ysyt
http://www.mediafire.com/?qc4ds7o5wb0h2eu
or
MP3s @320mbps
Part 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?eppkecbbxkdhfc9
Part 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?i082w0ob036set2
http://www.bobsboots.com/CDs/cd-l26.html

[Jack of All Parades]

Otis- the list is reasonably limited but the ones on it are the equivalent of musical comfort food for me. Just as I could conceivably consume peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the rest of my natural days[and that is natural peanut butter, as well] these records always manage to place me in a good spot when I visit them with regularity. They also never fail to hold my attention when I listen on a weekly basis:

"Workin'" With The Miles Davis Quintet- if only for "It Never Entered My Mind"
Louis Armstrong "The Hot Fives & Hot Sevens Volumes I & II"
"Getz/Gilberto" featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim" Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto
"Pet Sounds" The Beach Boys
"Rubber Soul" The Beatles
"John Wesley Harding" Bob Dylan
"GP" and "Grievous Angel" Gram Parsons this one always puts me in a good spot-Some weeks I switch off to the "Gilded Palace of Sin"
"The Well Tempered Clavier" JS Bach Glenn Gould
"The Nocturnes"- Chopin / Artur Rubinstein

and the only current record-
"High Violet" The National

Here is "It Never Entered My Mind"
http://youtu.be/P2WEJVqIT3Q

[Kevin Davis]

"It Never Entered My Mind" is so good.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Absolutely. Didn't know this at all, but sounds great. From the Steve Allen talk show Oct '55, I note. Lovely piano, was assuming it would be Bill Evans but turns out to be Red Garland.

So Jack, for the sake of clarity, would you say you play part at least of all those albums on a weekly basis or thereabouts? Amazing to me if so. I really can't listen to things too often or I tire of them, even my most favourite artists/songs/albums. I always like to renew my interest in my favourites by having a total break for often months on end, other than what comes up on iPod shuffle.

Thanks, Kevin, for all those Mediafire files. Downloading both boots now. Curious how Fort Worth has Rita May from the New Orelans show stuck in the middle of it, in addition to the 'filler' items at the end.

Impressively different song line-ups in both these May '76 shows and from the Nov '75 Bootleg release.

Dylan fans are well served by the incredible extent of online reference on things such as bobsboots and expectingrain, but I just looked and can no longer find the Bob Dylan Concordance that I spent many an hour on a few years back. All his lyrics were on there, and the beauty of the digital format was that you could click on a word and see all the songs he's used it in. Any idea what happened to it? Pretty sure it was referred to as a concordance.

[Kevin Davis]

Yeah, the '75 and '76 shows were remarkably quite different from each other considering how little the nature of the tour changed. I prefer the slightly more charged chemistry of the 1976 gigs, but love it all in the end. Have you heard the "Hard Rain" album, Otis? After "Live 1966," it's probably my favorite live Dylan album on the market, though it's in dire need of remastering (and, ideally, expansion). The "Shelter From the Storm" arrangement from 1976 is tremendous.

[Jack of All Parades]

Red Garland- underappreciated for sure-perhaps not the surest technically but a real cabaret feel to his playing.

Otis, for clarity- I have for some time now been walking the local High School Track with regularity 3 to 4 times a week. When I do this I put my Ipod on and listen to a select program that I have made that consists of the albums I listed. They give me consistent comfort and pleasure and life affirmation. I do not feel the need to step away from them from time to time. This does not mean I ignore the many other albums in my collection- it is just that I am a creature of habit when it comes to certain things-the listed albums are 'touchstones' for me. As such, they need regular and concentrated revisitations from me; they nourish my soul.

Happy New Year!!!

[Otis Westinghouse]

Fair enough. I tend to use shuffle myself, so much so that the other day I was listening to Wrecking Ball the whole way through and at the end of each song my brain was ready to spot the next artist/song. Made me think of Elvis saying people don't (know how to) listen to whole albums any more.

Kevin: no, I have a lot of Dylan but by no means all of it and Hard Rain is among that. Funnily enough I was looking at it in our wonderful Fopp store yesterday where it was only £5 and thinking 'I should really get this', but then I thought well I bet it's all pretty similar to the two lovely boots I'm busy converting, so held back, but I must get it soon. I've been revisiting the Bootleg Rolling Thunder release. Great stuff, so if the '76 shows have the edge, can't wait. One thing I always like to think of with these shows, apart from T Bone being in the band, is of Mick Ronson being there throughout. As a young Bowie fanatic, he was my first guitar hero and a brilliant musician and arranger to boot. Nice little moment of him interacting briefly with Dylan here, alll in the same headgear! (Curious wobble on this video, though):

[Jack of All Parades]

Sometimes you stumble upon something of merit when strolling through You Tube- like this for example- the sheer joy in this piece and the fun of seeing Willie 'The Lion' Smith and Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins swing out at the end is most exhilarating. Hope others enjoy this:

http://youtu.be/0DmtPvFa_W8

[Jack of All Parades]

- God, I love that pace. Stan Getz Quartet 1960 "Pernod"

http://youtu.be/j6ztGbPQFWc

[Jack of All Parades]

Nick Lowe's "The Old Magic". I woke up this morning with a powerful need to hear this man's seductively easy take on pop music. This album has held up so well over the year and a half since its release. I suspect it will be a constant source of aural pleasure. His take on aging and love is so assured and adult in these songs. This is literate but still vibrant music- subtle in the way it sneaks up on you as you are listening.

[Jack of All Parades]

Picked this up over the weekend on a lark- $4.99 bin at a local store: "The Rhythm and The Blues"- Sam Cooke on RCA a compilation of some 26 tracks from his early sixties work that stays away from the pop hit material and focuses on his explorations in R&B with both a big band and with a smaller group of studio musicians. It is a revelation for me to hear his interpretative skills- sensitive and alive to the nuances of these standards. I cannot listen to "Get Yourself Another Fool" or "Don't get Around Much Anymore" and not shudder. There is a song on this record- "Trouble Blues"- where he doesn't sound like the consumate show man and instead seems to be channeling a real hurt. Most impressive and only because I decided to poke in a bin of cds.

Same bin produced another keeper- "interplay" Bill Evans for $4.99 on Riverside featuring Freddie Hubbard, Percy Heath, Jim Hall on guitar adn Philly Joe Jones. Great playing and interplay and a markedly different texture than one normally associates with this pianist. Lively-brighter up tempo tunes that sparkle with the addition of Hubbard and Hall- from 1962 The standard- "When You Wish Upon a Star" really stands out here.

[ice nine]

Picked up Release The Stars. I have only listened to a few tracks, but so far 'Going To A Town' is my favorite.

[Otis Westinghouse]

'I'm so tired of you, America.'

My listening diet is 'Where Are We Now?', which repays lots of listening, and The National's 'Bloodbuzz Ohio', which I and my fellow bandmates are going to be playing live this Friday. Quite a work out for a drummer! 'I still owe money to the money to the money I owe, I never thought about love when I thought about home.' Quite a song.

[Jack of All Parades]

Been spending time this morning with this artist- trying to get my mind off the 10 degree weather outside and this is helping:

http://youtu.be/d1OxyUaw2nA
though the laconic Perry Como is a snooze.

This one featuring my brother in law- Joe is doing an even better job of keeping me with a warm feeling.

http://youtu.be/FHwIRy_Z2AY

[Otis Westinghouse]

Morrissey performing two of the Smiths' greatest songs back to back in Melbourne in Dec. Voice is perfect, pristine Marr-esque guitar could almost be Marr. Shaky footage but good sound:


If you want the real Marr sound, there's this:


The voice is no comparison, but I'll more than happily listen to this when I see him live.

Funny to think of the two of them both performing the same classic from their early years together. The reunion cliche is not to be wished for as it's never looked to be on the cards, but you can't help but imagine how thrilling it would be.