Self Portrait The Day
21 Apr 2012
BIG O Update!
There's been some great posting on Big O since dear brother Levon passed away t'other day..........these included a tribute largely featuring Emmy-Lou Harris
get it here . . . . .
Levon Helm Tribute
A set from Levon's Band from November last year featuring Kris Kristofferson........
get it here . . . . . . .
Levon Helm Band 2011
Also some oddities and some beauties!
Oddity no. 1 The Bob Dylan AJ Weberman tapes of 1971 featuring the eponymous cracker-barrel Weberman's telephone calls to His Bobness
It's weird![
what did you expect? ED] . . . . and very funny [
so who's weird here? ED].......get it here
The Weberman phone calls
Regular visitors
(who? ED) will note my delight in Nanci Griffith and Big O have posted possibly one of the best quality boots this listener has every heard.....OK it's an FM broadcast but heck, you may as well be there. Wonderful set from the Cambridge Folk Festival of 1992. Download it NOW!
You won't be sorry!
Get it here . . . . . t'is a wonderment!
Nanci Griffith Cambridge Folk Festival 1992
Following that little gem they posted the Basement Tapes version One Hundred and Thirty Nought.....now I know you have pretty much got this all by now [
who the heck ARE you talking to? ED] but it's from the collection of the ubiquitous Philip Cohen so if you don't have this version it's really worth a punt!
Get it here (
them! ED)
Basement Tapes Reels 1 & 2
And another gem posted this week from my heroes above many many others, a set from The Doors from Dallas Texas 1968
Look at that track list! Everyone a classic! Get it here . . . . .
The Doors DALLAS 1968
It's worth checking the text that Big O post for this one
Live at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, July 9, 1968 (Tuesday). A
very good mono(?) audience recording. This is from Greg Shaw’s tape.
“This is the best-sounding source (Greg Shaw’s tape) for The Doors’
1968 show in Dallas. I balanced the channels on this source to bring
them more to the center, applied ClickRepair to clean up some loud
clicks/pops, and also did some speed-correction. This recording is
unusual in that the sound gradually moves from one channel to the other
during the performance almost like a flange effect. This is native to
the original transfer/bootleg and there was little I could do to correct
it. If you’ve never heard this source for Dallas ‘68 or you’ve only
heard high gen sources, then you’re in for a treat. This is a great
sounding audience recording. ‘Light My Fire’ fades in and fades out due
to a tape cut in the middle of the song.”
- Porsche.
The show was shared at The Traders’ Den in March, 2012 by “holdingcell” - Thanks! The following notes were included.
“A truly amazing night with exceptionally great performances one
after the other. Only the absence of ‘The End’ avoids saying that the
show just couldn’t get any better. Jim gives an inspired and
occasionally powerful performance just like his band. In the middle of
‘Break On Through’ during the silent part something had happened because
Jim coughed some which earned several laughs from the audience. After
that he performed with apparent determination even finishing the song
unusually.
“Highlights include ‘Backdoor Man’ which features a classic
Morrison laugh, a storming version of ‘Five To One,’ the haunting
‘Crystal Ship’ following the first public appearance of Jim’s poem
‘Texas Radio And The Big Beat.’ An impressive ‘Money’ - where Jim find
great comfort singing it at the end from full throat. ‘When The Music’s
Over’ is another classic and contains everything that makes The Doors so
unique. The performance is filled with unpredictable moments: Jim
chatting with the crowd, laughter, missing lyrics (instead of “With your
ear down to the floor” he sings “Which your ear down..”), moans, groans
and improvisations but meanwhile (the atmosphere is)… tense. After the
spectacular performance the audience enthusiastically applauded the band
then Jim asked:
“Well, what do you guys wanna hear now?” The whole auditorium
immediately began shouting requests mainly ‘Light My Fire,’ and ‘The
End.’ “One at a time!” Jim requested. Then suddenly “Fuck! Oh, what do
you wanna hear?” which again made the crowd laugh. After a few seconds
he suddenly bursts into “Wake Up!” which opened the closing, much
requested ‘Light My Fire.’ The Doors are now one of the biggest bands in
America and by playing and selling out arenas making over $35,000 a
night. The show (or parts) has been filmed by the Doors’ film-crew.”
- Buda
Excerpts from Stephen Davis’ book on The Doors, Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend (2005)
“The Doors went back on the road with their film crew.
“In Dallas on July 9, a laugh opened Jim Morrison’s almost
complete Texas Radio and the Big Beat, a new kind of poem/song inspired
by the imperative preaching that Jim heard on late-night Bible Belt
radio. He also taunted the cops guarding the stage, mocking them, trying
to get them to overact for the film crew. In Houston, next night, he
performed spontaneous verse compositions in the middle of ‘Back Door
Man’ using the routines ‘Can the wind have it all?’ and ‘We tried not so
hard maybe we tried it too hard.’
“Poetic interjections in ‘When the Music’s Over’ included ‘Winter
Photography’ and ‘Count The Dead and Wait Till Morning’, material
culled from his recent notebooks. Delving into R ‘n’ B to alleviate his
boredom with the much requested ‘Crystal Ship’ and ‘Light My Fire’, Jim
launched the band into ‘Little Red Rooster’ and ‘Who Do You Love?’
Working the police again, Jim tried to get the kids to rush the stage.
The cops responded lining the stage, blocking the band from the crowd’s
view. Jim yelled out ‘If you all aren’t gonna come up here, I guess I’ll
have to try to get through ‘em….This is your last chance!’ The cops
pulled up even tighter, surrounding the band, and the show was over.” p. 267
Even after all these years, Jimbo still sounds fresh. His goading of
the police doesn’t sound like part of the “act”. Ray was probably pissed
by that. The Doors as musicians don’t suck. The music is gothic. Bold,
dramatic and sometimes ugly. Not ugly - ugly. But ugly - uncomfortable.
The Doors are an experience. This early show supposedly was filmed. Show
us the video already.
And finally the beautiful and staggeringly talented Norah Jones posted today (Sunday)
She was on Jools Holland this week and once again took my breath away (
what even with your eyes shut? ED - what CAN you mean? )
she and Jool shared a piano to do a Cab Calloway style song (Huh? ED) and Jools mentions the Little Willies ( a favourite band and go and buy there latest album here!
For The Good Times - The Little Willies ) and a version of the Kris Kristofferson 'For The Good Times' which must stand as one of the finest love songs ever written!
From the Johnny Cash Tribute Norah and Kris together . . . .
Enjoy! I know I did!
Levon
Helm, singer and drummer with The Band, died from throat cancer on
April 19, 2012 at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New
York. Helm was 71. The news was announced in a message posted by his
family on Facebook and Twitter, which read: “Levon Helm passed
peacefully this afternoon. He was surrounded by family, friends and band
mates and will be remembered by all he touched as a brilliant musician
and a beautiful soul.”
