Friday, May 30, 2014

CD Preview: David Olney’s When The Deal Goes Down



David Olney's When The Deal Goes Down
Nashville singer/songwriter David Olney is one of the city’s unrecognized geniuses, an incredible talent that has continued to crank out incredible records for better than 30 years now to nearly universal critical acclaim, but only a modicum of commercial success. If there was any true cosmic justice on this spinning, careening cat’s eye marble of a planet, Olney would be feted as the artist he is and heaped with gold coin and silver while Justin Bieber would be shuffling fries at the Whataburger.

On July 8th, 2014 Deadbeet Records will release Olney’s latest certain masterpiece, When The Deal Goes Down. The album was produced by Olney and guitarist Mark Robinson, another enormous Nashville talent, and was recorded at Guido’s Studios South in the Music City. When The Deal Goes Down offers a dozen new literary tales set to an Americana soundtrack, and features the talents of some of the city’s best instrumentalists, including longtime Olney musical foil, guitarist Sergio Webb.

When The Deal Goes Down offers up Olney’s usual blend of dark humor and intelligence, the track list ranging from the comedic “Mister Stay At Home” and “Servant Job,” to the tragic “Scarecrow Man,” the songs looking long and hard at the soul of man. Of the album’s title track, Olney says in a press release for the album, “I thought it might be helpful to God if I told him (or her) what I wanted from him (or her). God answered with a lightning bolt that just missed my head. What a kidder!”

Olney co-wrote several songs on When The Deal Goes Down with his longtime collaborator, songwriter John Hadley, including the song “No Trace,” among others. “I pictured it in Africa,” he says, “but it could also apply to West Virginia. Or anywhere in North or South America. Or the land of Canaan. Or the planet Earth. You get the idea…” Olney will tour in support of the album, but hometown fans can celebrate the release with a free in-store show and CD signing at Grimey’s Too/Howlin’ Books (1702 8th Avenue South) on July 8th, and a full CD release show at The End in Nashville on Wednesday, July 9th.

A songwriter without peer, Olney has had material recorded by Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Lonnie Brooks, and Steve Young, among too many others to list, and he has released better than 20 albums during a storied career that now spans four decades. In 2013, Olney’s song “Postcard From Mexico” was featured in the ABC TV series Nashville. It will be interesting to hear the collaboration between Olney and Robinson on When The Deal Goes Down, and the album is now available for pre-order on Olney’s website

David Olney Tour Dates: 
 
07/08/14 @ Grimey’s Too/Howlin’ Books In-Store Show & CD Signing, Nashville TN
07/09/14 @ The End (CD Release Show), Nashville TN
07/17/14 @ Machinery Row (solo show), Great Falls MT
07/18/14 @ KGLT-FM Presents Live from the Divide (w/Sergio Webb), Bozeman MT     
07/19/14 @ Waterworks Art Museum (w/Sergio Webb), Miles City MT
07/20/14 @ The Murray Bar (w/Sergio Webb), Livingston MT
08/02/14 @ Musical Heritage Center @ Fiddle & Pick, Pegram TN
08/06/14 @ Music City Roots, Franklin TN
08/20/14 @ The 5 Spot, Nashville TN
08/27/14 @ The 5 Spot, Nashville TN
09/03/14 @ The 5 Spot, Nashville TN
09/09/14 @ Public Library Concerts (w/ Marshall Chapman & RB Morris), Nashville TN
09/10/14 @ The 5 Spot, Nashville TN
09/17/14 @ Idaho Songwriters Assoc/Sapphire Room (w/Sergio Webb), Boise ID
09/20/14 @ Challis Arts Council Presents (w/Sergio Webb), Challis ID
10/25/14 @ Huntington Hill Concert Series (w/Sergio Webb), Rochester NY
10/26/14 @ East Village House Concert Series (w/Sergio Webb), New York NY
11/01/14 @ Balsam Mountain Inn (w/ RB Morris & Brennen Leigh), Balsam NC
12/12/14 @ Pinetop Mystics Presents (w/Sergio Webb), Nacogdoches TX
12/13/14 @ Red Dragon Concert Series, Baton Rouge LA

 


Bad Company Vinyl Reissues & Tour Dates

Bad Company's Straight Shooter
When I was a wee sprout of a rock ‘n’ roll fanatic, the British blues-rock outfit Free was one of my fave rave bands. As such, I couldn’t understand why they broke up when they broke up…back in those days, there was no Internet to provide gossip, lies, and innuendo, so Paul Kossoff’s drug problems and inter-band tensions weren’t widely-known knowledge…especially to snot-nosed teenage fans.

When former Free frontman Paul Rodgers and the band’s drummer Simon Kirke formed Bad Company with former Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and former King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell, I begrudgingly gave their self-titled 1974 album a spin. Although Bad Company, the album, wasn’t Free, it was still pretty good, and I soon had another favorite band. Quite a few other young rockers must have shared my feelings, because Bad Company shot up to number one on the Billboard Top 200 album chart, eventually selling five million copies on the strength of hit singles like “Can’t Get Enough” (charted at #5) and “Movin’ On” (#19) as well as featuring tunes like “Ready For Love,” “Rock Steady,” and the atmospheric album title track.

On July 1st, 2014 Rhino Records will reissue Bad Company’s first two classic albums – Bad Company and Straight Shooter – on 180-gram vinyl with the complete original packaging. Like its predecessor, Straight Shooter rose up the album charts to the number three position, scoring hit singles with “Feel Like Making Love” (#10) and “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad” (#36) and the classic rock radio standard “Shooting Star.” Accompanying the vinyl reissues of their two classic albums, Bad Company will be touring the U.S. this summer with another legendary 1970s era band, Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Sadly, Boz Burrell passed away in 2006, but the current Bad Company version includes original members Rodgers, Ralphs, and Kirke along with guitarist Howard Leese and bassist Todd Ronning (from Rodgers' solo band). Vinyl copies of both albums will be on sale at the band’s shows as well as available through fine record shops everywhere.

Bad Company/Lynryrd Skynyrd Summer Tour Dates

07/10/14 @ Waterfront, Bangor ME                           
07/12/14 @ Xfinity Center, Mansfield MA                      
07/13/14 @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, Darien NY                             
07/15/14 @ Walnut Creek Amphitheater, Raleigh NC                           
07/16/14 @ PNC Pavilion, Charlotte NC                        
07/18/14 @ Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden NJ                                 
07/19/14 @ Jiffy Lube Live, Bristow VA                           
07/22/14 @ Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls OH              
07/23/14 @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park IL                      
07/25/14 @ DTE Energy Music Theatre, Clarkston MI                 

Monday, May 26, 2014

Midnight Rider – A Tribute To The Allman Brothers Band

Midnight Rider - A Tribue To The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers are one of those true American music treasures, and there have been numerous tribute albums released through the years in their honor, including 2002’s A Jam Band Tribute To The Allman Brothers and even…ahem…2009’s Chartbuster Karaoke. Clear some space on your CD shelve, ABB fiends, ‘cause here comes one more tribute disc!

On May 27th, 2014 Cleopatra Records will release Midnight Rider – A Tribute To The Allman Brothers Band, a twelve-song collection that features new performances of some of the band’s most classic tunes, including “Midnight Rider,” “Statesboro Blues,” “Ramblin’ Man,” and “Whippin’ Post,” among others. Cleopatra has lined up some fine talent, as well, ranging from blues guitarists like Ronnie Earl, Debbie Davies, Eli Cook, and Eric Gales to classic rockers like Pat Travers and Leon Russell, old friends of the band like Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie), Molly Hatchet, and the Artimus Pyle Band to talented fretburners like Sonny Landreth and Robben Ford. You’ll find the complete list of artists involved and the songs they cover below. The timing is opportune, as All My Friends, a recently-released Gregg Allman tribute album, is selling like flapjacks and has topped the blues chart for a couple of weeks as of this writing.  

“The Allman Brothers were a central part of my roots,” states guitarist Steve Morse, in a press release for the album. “Living in Georgia much of my life, they were the local legends that everybody loved. They had the swing, the inventive double guitar parts, the ability to jam just long enough to keep the audience, and that golden voice of Greg’s! When my instrumental rock band, the Dixie Dregs, played, we often played ‘Jessica,’ which automatically makes any audience start moving and smiling. I’ve been lucky enough to sit in with many of the members at various times, and we have shared a lot of common ground. I’m still a fan!”

Midnight Rider tracklist:
1. Pat Travers – “Midnight Rider”
2. Oak Ridge Boys, Tinsley Ellis & Kevin McKendree – “Ramblin’ Man”
3. Molly Hatchet – “Melissa”
4. Artimus Pyle Band – “Blue Sky”
5. Jimmy Hall & Steve Morse – “Whipping Post”
6. Roy Rogers, John Wesley & Jim Eshelman – “Jessica”
7. Robben Ford & Martin Gerschwitz – “One Way Out”
8. Debbie Davies & Melvin Seals – “Soulshine”
9. Eli Cook – “Statesboro Blues”
10. Eric Gales – “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed”
11. Commander Cody & Sonny Landreth – “Southbound”
12. Leon Russell, Reese Wynans & Ronnie Earl – “I’m No Angel” (Greg Allman solo track)

Buy the album from Amazon.com: Midnight Rider - Tribute To The Allman Brothers Band

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Audio Fidelity’s Legends – The Ultimate Rock Collection

Audio Fidelity has earned a reputation for the company’s carefully-crafted 24k gold compact discs, which precisely and perfectly capture the original sound of the music. Yeah, they cost twice that of a normal CD, but what you’re getting is a defect-free 24 karat gold-plated disc mastered from the original analog master tapes and pressed from a laser-etched glass master. It’s a high-tech process, Bunkie, and an Audio Fidelity 24k disc offers up the music the way that it was supposed to be heard.

On June 3rd, 2014 Audio Fidelity will make the move into compilation albums with the release of two Legends volumes as hybrid SACDs. The Legends series is based on the old Time Life album series, but fancied up as only Audio Fidelity can do. The first two titles – Crank It Up! and Get It On! – are both seventeen-song collections of some of the best classic rock tunes, re-mastered for the first time for these special hybrid SACD releases. While most compilation albums of this sort are put together using the highly-compressed radio edits of songs, Audio Fidelity took the time to dig up the best available individual master recordings of each song for the Legends series.

Although the hardcore collector most likely has their favorite among the songs on these two Legends albums, for the casual fan or young fanatic looking to get some classic rock into their life, this is the way to hear these tracks. The two volumes include classic tunes from the Grateful Dead, the Rascals, Little Feat, Buffalo Springfield, Deep Purple, The Doors, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and many others. Full track listing for each album below.

Crank It Up! Tracklist:
1. Chicago – “Does Anybody Really Know”
2. The Doobie Brothers – “Listen To the Music”
3. The Rascals – “Good Lovin'”
4. Rod Stewart – “Tonight's the Night”
5. Jackson Browne – “Running On Empty”
6. Phil Collins – “In the Air Tonight”
7. The Zombies – “Time of the Season”
8. Ace – “How Long”
9. Little Feat – “Dixie Chicken”
10. Grateful Dead – “Truckin'”
11. Stephen Stills – “Love the One You're With”
12. Buffalo Springfield – “For What It's Worth”
13. America – “Sister Golden Hair”
14. The Pretenders – “Back On the Chain Gang”
15. Foreigner – “Feels Like the First Time”
16. Elton John – “Daniel”
17. The Moody Blues – “Nights In White Satin”

Get It On! Tracklist:
1. The Troggs – “Wild Thing”
2. Deep Purple – “Smoke On the Water”
3. Norman Greenboum – “Spirit In the Sky”
4. T. Rex – “Bang A Gong (Get It On)”
5. Fleetwood Mac – “Go Your Own Way”
6. Manfred Mann's Earth Band – “Blinded By the Light”
7. Eric Burdon and War – “Spill the Wine”
8. The Kinks – “Lola” (live)
9. The Doors – “Light My Fire”
10. Foghat – “Slow Ride”
11. Alice Cooper – “School's Out”
12. Brownsville Station – “Smokin' In the Boy's Room”
13. The Doobie Brothers – “China Grove”
14. Foreigner – “Hot Blooded”
15. Bad Company – “Can't Get Enough”
16. Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Free Bird”
17. Greatful Dead – “Casey Jones”

The company offers its 24k CDs, hybrid SACDs, and 180 gram virgin vinyl reissues through the Audio Fidelity website and also offers subscriptions so that members can buy at a discount.

Buy the CDs from Amazon.com:

Legends: Crank It Up

Legends: Get It on

Iggy Pop’s Big 7” Box

Well, this is certainly a cool little collectible for the faithful…on May 27, 2014 Cleopatra Records will release Gimme Some Skin, a special Iggy Pop 7” box set in a limited-edition of 1,000. The set will include seven individual 7” vinyl records that feature exclusive new tracks along with classic Stooges songs circa 1972-73.

The 45rpm records come packaged with a color booklet with in-depth liner notes, a custom 7” record adaptor, and a collectible patch. Here’s the complete tracklist for this one-of-a-kind Iggy fan’s wet dream, which is currently selling for $47.99 on Amazon:

1. “I Can’t Explain” b/w “Lonely Boy”
2. “Cock In My Pocket” b/w “Tight Pants”
3. “I Got A Right” b/w “White Christmas (Guitar Stooge Mix)”
4. “Money (That’s What I Want)” b/w “Open Up and Bleed” (single edit)
5. “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (fast version) b/w “Johanna”
6. “Gimme Some Skin” b/w “I’m So Glad”
7. “Louie Louie” / “Scene of the Crime”

Get it from Amazon.com: Gimme Some Skin - The 7inch Collection

Friday, May 16, 2014

Iron Butterfly Live At The Galaxy 1967

Iron Butterfly's Live At The Galaxy 1967
They’ll forever be known as the “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” band, but Iron Butterfly released six studio and a live album over the course of their initial ten-year run. Formed in 1966 by keyboardist/vocalist Doug Ingle and guitarist Danny Weiss, Iron Butterfly became known as one of the leading progenitors of the era’s psychedelic-rock sound. Unlike almost all of the pop-psych bands of the 1960s, though, Iron Butterfly evinced a sound befitting its name, bringing a sonic tonnage to its material that was shared only by a few like-minded fellow travelers as Blue Cheer.

Aside from a lone 1970 album and 2011’s Fillmore East 1968, there hasn’t been a heck of a lot of live Butterfly recordings floating around collectors’ circles. That oversight will be corrected on May 27th, 2014 when Purple Pyramid – a subsidiary of Cleopatra Records – releases Live At The Galaxy 1967, a rare concert document from the psychedelic-rock legends. The album was recorded at the historic Galaxy Club in Los Angeles, just a few doors down from Whiskey A Go-Go on the infamous Sunset Strip and features the early band line-up which recorded Iron Butterfly’s 1968 debut album Heavy.

The band at the time included Ingle on lead vocals and keyboards, guitarist Weiss, bassist Jerry Penrod, percussionist and singer Darryl DeLoach, and drummer Ron Bushy. Live At The Galaxy 1967 will be released on both compact disc and, in June, on glorious colored 180 gram vinyl. The album is of special interest to fans as it’s a rare document of the early band; Weiss, Penrod, and DeLoach left Butterfly shortly after the January 1968 release of Heavy, replaced by guitarist Erik Brann and bassist Lee Dorman who, along with Ingle and Bushy, represented the best-known and most successful band line-up that recorded the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968) and Ball (1969) albums.        

“Every big name act that was in L.A. came to see us play at the Galaxy,” Ron Bushy remembers in a press release for the album. “There was Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, etc.” A&R reps from Atlantic Records were also at the show, and promptly signed the band and hustled them into the studio to record Heavy. Six of the twelve performances captured by Live At The Galaxy 1967 are from Heavy, including the band’s signature “Iron Butterfly Theme,” while only two of the other half-dozen songs would be released later, providing long-time fans with some previously unreleased gems from the enigmatic band.    

Live At The Galaxy 1967 track listing:

1. Real Fright
2. Possession
3. Filled With Fear
4. Fields of Sun
5. It’s Up To You
6. Gloomy Day To Remember
7. Evil Temptation
8. So-Lo
9. Gentle As It May Seem
10. Lonely Boy
11. Iron Butterfly Theme
12. You Can’t Win

Buy here from Amazon.com: Live At The Galaxy 1967

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Sunday, May 11, 2014

Bob Marley’s Legend Celebrates 30 Years!

Bob Marley's Legend 30th Anniversary Edition
I dunno…it sure seems like Universal Music is going back to the well one too many damn times with the upcoming reissue of Bob Marley’s Legend. The original album was released in May 1984, almost three years to the day following the reggae giant’s tragic death. Legend has been on the charts in one form or another ever since, selling better than 15 million copies in the United States and over 27 million copies worldwide, making it not only the best-selling reggae album in history, but one of the top 20 sellers in any musical genre.

Scheduled for July 1st, 2014 release, Marley’s Legend 30th Anniversary Edition is a two disc set that reprises the original 16-song “greatest hits” collection on the first disc, and a special 5.1 mix of the album done by Grammy® Award winning producer Bob Clearmountain on a super-duper special Blu-Ray Pure Audio Disc™. This second super-duper special disc includes the original studio take of “No Woman No Cry” instead of the previously-used live version as well as two previously-unreleased alternate takes on “Easy Skanking” and “Punky Reggae Party” that were both recently discovered sitting under a lamp or a doily or something in the Marley vault.

The two-disc 30th anniversary set is accompanied by a 28-page casebound book featuring extended liner note by writer Christopher Farley, author of the bio Marley, as well as forewords from Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, rare photos and stuff. Legacy 30th Anniversary Edition will also be released as a tri-color (yellow, green, and red) double-gatefold vinyl LP with “a higher fidelity sound quality that is closer to the original source” (so says the label press release, and since the original material was all recorded in analog and released on vinyl, this makes sense) that is probably cooler than the CD reissue.

Like I said, I have my doubts that this Legacy 30th Anniversary Edition is entirely necessary considering that the Legend “Deluxe Edition” CD was released in 2002 with a second disc of rarities, which themselves were later released as a standalone CD as the Legend “Rarities Edition” in 2009…and don’t forget the atrocious Legend Remixed set that came out in 2013!

Truth is, kids, Bob Marley was one of the most important musicians of the 20th century, and the original Legend album – with great songs like “Is This Love,” “Buffalo Soldier,” “Get Up Stand Up,” “I Shot The Sheriff,” and the wonderful “Redemption Song,” among many others – is required listening for anybody that loves rock ‘n’ roll or reggae music. Everything else just smells like exploitation to me, so buyer beware…

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Buy the original 16-song version of Legend from Amazon.com:
Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers (New Packaging)

Buy the 2002 two-disc Legend "Deluxe Edition" from Amazon.com:
Legend (Deluxe Edition)

If you absolutely HAVE to buy it, here's a link to the Legend 30th Anniversary Edition on Amazon.com:
Legend - 30th Anniversary Edition (CD + Blu-Ray Audio Disc)

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Rare Captain Beefheart Concert Recording

Captain Beefheart Harpo's 1980
It seems that even the bootleggers had a hard time pinning down the legendary Captain Beefheart (a/k/a Don Van Vliet) since there seems to be a lack of the artist’s live material available for purchase. There are a handful of European shows of dodgy legal (and sonic) provenance released via fly-by-night labels, a misbegotten effort that did little to extend the good Captain’s musical legacy.

Rhino Handmade had a nice little 1978 vintage radio broadcast available on a limited basis, but there were no authorized live records released during Beefheart’s major label career that I’m aware of…and since the few Beefheart boots and semi-boots appear and disappear without warning, there’s not much available for the collector to spend their hard-earned coin. Thanks to Gonzo Multimedia, however, fans of the Captain have reason to rejoice with the May 13th, 2014 (U.S.) release of Harpo’s Detroit Dec 11th 1980, a 17-track live recording from the infamous Motor City venue and a show that the Reverend likely attended (mass beer consumption has dulled otherwise vivid memories of many Detroit nights).

Captured live on tape during the 1980 tour for their Doc At The Radar Station album, Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band at the time included guitarists Jeff Moris Tepper and Richard Snyder, bassist Eric Drew Feldman, and drummer Robert Williams. While the set is heavy on material from Radar Station, comprising six of that album’s twelve songs, it also includes such Beefheart favorites as “Abba Zabba,” “Safe As Milk,” and “Bat Chain Puller” as part of the set list.

Growing up north of Los Angeles in the desert community of Lancaster, California Van Vliet found a kindred spirit as a teenager with fellow musician and oddball Frank Zappa. He began performing as Captain Beefheart in 1964, joining the existing Magic Band line-up that had been formed by Alexis Snouffer in 1965. Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band released their critically-acclaimed debut album Safe As Milk on the Buddah Records label in 1967, but Buddah execs shied away from that album’s follow-up, Strictly Personal, which was subsequently released in 1968 by producer Bob Krasnow’s Blue Thumb Records.

The third time’s a charm, as they say, and after being dumped by both Buddah and Blue Thumb, Beefheart and crew were signed to Zappa’s Straight Records, where they were provided complete artistic control, resulting in the classic 1969 album Trout Mask Replica. Beefheart and one form or another of the Magic Band would record a total of thirteen studio albums before Van Vliet retired from music after the 1982 release of Ice Cream For Crow. Van Vliet turned to painting as his chosen form of expression, a career that proved to be more commercially successful than music, and in which he was equally as influential.

As Captain Beefheart, Van Vliet influenced a generation of musicians to follow, and one can hear his impact on artists as diverse as Sonic Youth, the Residents, They Might Be Giants, and Tom Waits, among many others. Van Vliet passed away in 2010 after a lengthy illness, but his musical legacy is still growing, and the release of this live set from Harpo’s is a welcome one, indeed! For more info on the Captain and the Magic Band, check out the Radar Station website.

Buy here from Amazon.com: Harpos Detroit Dec 11th 1980

Harpo’s Detroit 11th 1980 track listing:

1. Nowadays A Woman's Gotta Hit A Man
2. Abba Zabba
3. Hot Head
4. Ashtray Heart
5. Dirty Blue Gene
6. Best Batch Yet
7. Safe As Milk
8. Doctor Dark
9. A Carrot Is As Close As A Rabbit Gets To A Diamond
10. One Red Rose That I Mean
11. Bat Chain Puller
12. My Human Gets Me Blues
13. Sugar And Spikes
14. Sheriff Of Hong Kong
15. The Dust Blows Forward, The Dust Blows Back-Kandy Korn
16. Suction Prints
17. Big Eyed Beans From Venus