MUSIC: I THINK I'M GOIN' BACK -OR MAYBE I NEVER LEFT

This is my favourite record. Right here, right now! You gotta problem with that, buddy?

Answer: Not if it's 1975, sunshine.

And therein lies the problem: I'm not sure it isn't. Or maybe it's-

Or possibly 1967.

No, I'm sorry, it's a little further back.

With the exception of Europe 72 which I've been listening to on and off for 40 years, the albums are all ones I've bought recently. (Actually, the Jefferson Starship was part of a box set but I'll get back to that.)

Okay: sidebar.

A brief history of popular music as I see it.

You can't define decades in music simply by the date or even, really, by time at all.  However, for the sake of argument, I see it like this.

The 50's began in 1956 with Bill Haley and the Comets Rock Around The Clock and they didn't end until the release in late 1962 with The Beatles Love Me Do.

And after that it was the 60's and nothing was ever the same again.

The 60's didn't end until (and, yes, I know this even more subjective than anything else I've said so far but I've got to pick a date and for the sake of the subject of this post this is it) 1975 with the release of Red Octopus. 

The 60's, as I define them, are the period when I grew from adolescence to adulthood and my musical tastes were formed by this period. It was a era when young wannabees realised that Popular music (as opposed to Pop) had potentially no boundaries. It was also a time when white boys in the States realised how important and how good the Blues was. Of course British kids like The Rolling stones, already knew that. Artists like BB King, Albert King, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf went from playing small rough clubs and to segregated audiences to huge venues like the Fillmore West to adoring white kids.

The Monterey Festival, while light on black bluesmen (at least on the 4-CD set) is almost a paradigm of the period. Just look who's on it. The Association playing easy listening pop-rock; Eric Burdon & the Animals where Eric displays too much hippy Haight-Ashbury influence; blues enthusiasts Canned Heat who had just unleashed their first album; Big Brother & the Holding Company demonstrating why Janis Joplin was the star and they weren't; The (Paul) Butterfield Blues Band, America's answer to John Mayall's Bluesbreakers but fielding actual black bluesguys in the lineup; The Byrds; Hugh Masekela, Ravi Shankar; Jefferson Airplane; Booker T & The MG's, the Stax mixed-race combo whose recordings with Albert King made him the Blues superstar he deserved to be, here playing their own set and then backing up soul legend Otis Redding; The Who, new to the States, letting the audience find out why they were so huge back home; (The) Jimi Hendrix (Experience); and finishing off with The Mamas and the Papas.  There are also many bands and artists, like The Grateful Dead who wouldn't release their material for this set. Looking through this (which is only a partial listing) there isn't a single artist I dislike and only a very few I can take or leave, there are far more I'm a fan of.

At four minutes shy of five hours playing time, plus an extensive comprehensive booklet this is little short of heaven for a 60's music fan.

Of course there is more to 60's music than that but it's not a bad sampler of stuff I liked during those important formative years. Now obviously I didn't remain stuck in the 60's (which, as I said above, includes the early 70's). Just to list a few (the tip of the iceberg) as examples: Springsteen (from 75 to date), Julian Cope, Chris Rea, Echo & the Bunnymen, Alela Diane, The Levellers, U2, Big Country, The Waterboys, Patti Smith, Rory Gallagher, Steely Dan, The Human League, Afro-Celt Sound System, Imelda May, JJ Cale, Frank Zappa, Fela Kuti, Cowboy Junkies, Ry Cooder, Youssou N'Dour, Luther Allison (one of the last great Bluesmen) and a whole host of other Blues artistes. A quick scan of box set compilations on my CD shelves include: Celtic, English Folk, Bhangra, Ska, Reggae, African Funk, African Blues, Nigerian Rock plus a bunch of Classical shit like Vaughan Williams. 

But I keep going back to my roots. I have pretty much every album Neil Young has made, a 19-CD box set of Sandy Denny (cost £150, since seen on Ebay for a grand), a terrifying number of Grateful Dead box sets which includes the two 12-disc sets of all their major label releases including tons of bonus stuff and more live sets than I really need. 

And I keep going back to the stuff I liked in my youth and it still sounds great. 

This is my most recent purchase. Only Red Octopus has bonus tracks which is as it should be as for my money it's one of the great Rock albums of the 70's. Spitfire (the one to its right), is also pretty good and there are good tracks on the other three. All clock in around 42mins (exc bonus tracks) which is fine for the period. But only Red Octopus works perfectly and this despite the variety of the numbers on it. It opens with a rocker and is followed by Miracles which is possibly the best track Marty Balin ever sang lead on. You then get Git Fiddler, an instrumental with Papa John Creach on lead with some good piano work in the mix. I'm not going to list everything as every track is memorable from the headlong rocker of Sweeter Than Honey to achingly lyrical climax of There Will Be Love. Every member of the band is on fire, all working tightly together both instrumentally and vocally.

This is simply the best single album by any band with the name Jefferson as part of it and I've loved it for 38 years.

(Side Note: Winging its way to me from the states is a live 2-CD set recorded just before the release of Red Octopus and it's supposed to be sensational.) 

Now every so often I go through a Bob Dylan phase. I particularly like his bootleg series of which this is the latest. To be honest, while I quite like it, it's more for the hard core Dylan fan but I also picked up at the same time-

This is almost worth buying just for the accompanying booklet which contains a lengthy essay about Dylan in the period immediately preceding this show. It's by John Glover a folk artist and long-time friend of our Bobby and it is fascinating. (All the  Bootleg series contain first class booklets which reveal much about the man and the related music.) There are two discs. The first is acoustic, just Dylan, his guitar and harp. On the second he brings on his rock band which is not to the liking of some of the audience. Just before the final song is played, one of the crowd shouts out "Judas!" much to Dylan's justified annoyance because the man is an arsehole. 

If Dylan had stayed where he was -a folkie protest singer- he'd be a footnote in the history of music. Instead he seized on the possibilities, inspired by The Beatles, that Rock offered and expanded the vocabulary (figuratively and literally) of popular music itself. Me, I was a Dylan fan already and liked the Rock direction he was moving in, just as I went along, for a time, with other changes until I moved on and away.

Listening to these albums, ironically pointed me back to another Bootleg set I had which I hadn't listened to more than once.

This is a 2-disc collection of mostly out-takes from three of his later period return to form which had somehow passed me by. I've been listening to it more closely (it's playing now) and it's really very good indeed. The booklet explains how Dylan explores different ways of playing a song in search of getting it just right. Which is what he's been doing all his life.

Which is off the track. 

The thing is that I was wondering, while your taste in music expands as you encounter new artistes whom you enjoy very much, does it really change? I keep going back to the music I listened to during the period I was growing up and still enjoy it as much as ever. The eponymous Fotheringay is still my single favourite album and Sandy Denny still my favourite female singer. Europe 72 remains my most played Grateful Dead live set. I've followed Neil Young since I heard After The Gold Rush in 1971 and love his latest Psychedelic Pill (2013). 

To be honest, it's years since I listened to any new music except for occasional discoveries like the exquisite voice of Alela Diane and Bombino (a Tuareg electric guitarist) and the later work of a revitalised Dion. With the exception old favourites releasing new albums, I haven't really listened to new stuff since the end of the 80's, partly because I shortly became a white boy lost in the Blues for several years. But always I keep going back to the music of my youth.

But then why shouldn't I? It was fucking great then and it's still fucking great now.

THE POWER OF BRUCE: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AT THE STADIUM OF LIGHT, SUNDERLAND, THURSDAY, 21st JUNE 2012

Getting out of the Stadium of Light proved far easier than getting in. Seated at the end of a row itself adjacent to an exit ramp facing wide open doors meant I got out of there in less than a minute and I was hoofing it round the perimeter of the stadium, my short legs moving in a Flash-like blur (perhaps I exaggerate slightly) as I quickly overtook those who'd got out of there ahead of me. Then I reached the crowds who'd left by the south-facing exits and I was forced by their sheer density to slow to their pace as we walked, still briskly, down narrow streets. I passed two mounted policemen, beautiful dignified animals with sleek coats, so tall and majestic, they dwarfed me (okay, easy to do). The horses were impressive too. (Sorry.) The police were out in relative force, albeit not, I suspect, as many as for a football match. I doubt they had much, if anything, to do. Everyone, including the drunks, were on a good high and just wanting to get home, or to their hotel in the case of those who'd travelled from well outside the locality. Out on to the bridge where the police had closed two lanes of traffic to make it easier and safer for the concert-leavers to get across. Back in the town centre I was lucky enough to catch a bus immediately and landed back in the house at 10.40pm, almost exactly five hours after I'd left it.

Just over five hours earlier I'd been checking that I had everything: Ipod, camera, ticket, umbrella, two bottles of fruit juice filled with Australian shiraz, a bag of processed fish tails to nibble on when I got peckish, a small amount of cash in case of emergency, and a shoulder bag to put most of them in. Sorted. Except when I got there I realised I'd forgotten the small pair of binoculars I'd picked up from our charity shop solely for use this evening. Bugger. The journey to the Stadium was a reverse of that leaving. With the new Patti Smith album Banga playing on my Ipod (there is a Bruce connection there), I got a bus straight away from the bottom of my street, into a quiet town centre where it only became apparent that the concert-goers were out in force, as I approached the bridge and the thickening fog, and en masse by the time I reached the end. Arriving at the stadium I looked at signs to find out where I was supposed to enter, joined a long snaking queue which proved to be the wrong one and had to go much further round the stadium's circumference before finding the queue for the correct entrance. Eventually I got inside to the outer circle, a tunnel which, I assume went all the way around the building's perimeter and was packed with food and drink concessions, and also plenty of toilets which was useful as I had to go. I got to my seat just over an hour after leaving the house. I didn't mention that it was next to four amiable but somewhat drunk Scotsmen with weak bladders. Worth mentioning is that, despite the forecasts, it stayed rain-free albeit still a little cold and damp and I had to pull my leather jacket across my Grateful Dead t-shirt to keep warm. Here's the view I had.

There are two Bruce Springsteens.

One is an enormously talented singer-songwriter who stands in the Rock pantheon along with Elvis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and U2. In my own personal pantheon, you can omit the first two and add Neil Young and The Grateful Dead. Despite my love for Sandy Denny, she doesn't count because there's no way in hell she could ever be described a rock singer. Springsteen has recorded two perfect albums in my book -Born In The USA and The Rising- both note perfect from start to finish, all packed with memorable songs, the latter being an unbelievably dignified fine response to the tragedy of 9/11. But there are wonderful songs on all his albums and these two are just my favourites; I'm sure other Bruce fans would disagree. Bruce crafts songs about love, regret, disillusionment, working class life, oppression both social and economic. On his latest album there's We Take Care Of Our Own about how America looks after the weak in society except that the title and lyrics overflow with a sneering irony as Bruce knows America does any but take care of its own. And then there's the song Born In The USA itself which sounds anthemic and triumphant on first hearing but is the bitter story of a ground-down VietNam vet. Or try the wistful nostalgia for good times gone on Glory Days. And so many more, all sung with a rough-hewn sensitivity, perfectly arranged, everything done in service of the song. 

And then there's Bruce the entertainer.

He's there, trust me, looking half an inch high from where I was sitting. I'd watch the screens, wonder whereabouts he was on stage and only then occurring to me to actually look at it.

He started at 7.08pm and finished, without a break or encore, at 10.15pm. He started at full blast and hardly let up for three hours. When he wasn't singing he prowled the stage, doing a little dancing, interacting with band members while they soloed, at one point pretending to bang his head on the piano keyboard. Often he was at the very front, glad-handing members of the audience, racing along the stage in exaggerated steps. When he saw one fat guy with a sign wishing guitarist Nils Lofgren a happy birthday (it was his 61st) Bruce pulled the guy up onto the stage to dance next to an amused Lofgren. He whipped the audience up into a frenzy, getting them (us) to thrust our arms into the air and sing along. He made local references which went down well as you'd expect. A smile never seemed to leave his face as he poured everything into his performance.

About halfway through he asked, "Who's in the house?" and set about introducing every member of his 18-piece band. As you'd expect there were massive cheers for guitarists Nils Lofgren, Little Stevie (aka Sopranos actor Steven van Zandt), and drummer Max Weinberg. Then he asked, "Is there a pretty red-haired woman in the house?" Um, actually as it happens, no. Bruce explained that his talented singer wife Patti Scialfa "..is at home looking after the kids." A few days ago, they'd been papped coming out of a Paris restaurant where they'd celebrating their wedding anniversary but with Patti looking very upset and Bruce unable to console her. I hope her absence had nothing to do with that.

With a huge back catalogue of great songs there were always bound to be someone's favourites missing. With me it was Born In The USA (no suprise there), though he included others from that album. From the recent Wrecking Ball, he left out my favourite Rocky Ground opting instead for the more anthemic Wrecking Ball, We Take Care Of Our Own, Shackled And Drawn, and if a song wasn't anthemic in the first place, he made it so. Song after song was a full band production, often dominated by horns and sax. Nils and Little Stevie did get their solos and very good they were too but for my personal taste I'd have preferred more guitar and less brass. All the band were excellent including the strongly featured Jake Clemons (Clarence's nephew) on sax. Towards the end Bruce featured a video collage of the late and much-missed Clarence Clemons to great applause. 

He slowed things down a little towards the middle of the set but it wasn't long before he and the band were in full everything and the kitchen sink mode and I'd begun checking my watch wondering when he'd take a break which, as I'd already mentioned, he didn't. I'd begun to feel Bruce fatigue.

It didn't last though. Not even I can resist the Power of Bruce. By the time he sang Hungry Heart and Glory Days I was on my feet and singing along with most of the rest of the audience. "Everybody's got a hungry heart/Everybody's got a huh-huh-hung-ery hahheart." I mean, it would have been rude not to do so.

I did not, however, pump my fist in the air, either of them.

And there you go. That's pretty much about it. Bruce Springsteen who loves writing and singing songs and loves performing for an audience. He's 62 years old, he's rich, he doesn't need to perform at full belt for three hours several times a week, he just loves doing it and you can see it in his face and in his body language. His energy puts people half his age to shame. I'm really glad I went to see him and it's something I'll never forget.

I just don't want to do it again.

Post Script.

Shortly after leaving the Stadium of Light, I switched on my Ipod and starting listening to an album by The Grateful Dead called So Many Roads. It's an authorised collection, compiled by some fans, of previously unreleased live and studio tracks culled from a variety of sources containing versions of familiar numbers but that are played somewhat differently from usual. Much of it comes in the form of long jams. After three hours of high intensity Bruce, I found listening to this a really pleasant way to come down.

amazon.co.uk VS amazon.com

As regular readers know, most of the stuff I buy and review or comment on in this blog comes from Amazon UK. Very occasionally I'll use Ebay but most of the time Amazon UK (or AzUK dealers, like myself) is cheaper. Sometimes, however, I'll order something from Amazon.com -the US shop because it's cheaper. It doesn't happen very often but if I'm buying something expensive, I'll check them out as well. DC Absolute series of lavish hardback editions of their very best comics/graphic novels are almost always significantly cheaper than the UK even after adding postage on top. I've currently got Absolute Promethea vol 3 on order with them at a saving of over £15.00 (assuming the exchange rate stays roughly the same).

I'm also known as being a fan of The Grateful Dead and if you haven't heard of them, look them up on

http://www.allmusic.com/

I get a regular newsletter from their online store and in the latest one today there's a new collection entitled Europe 72 vol.2. 

 

The first GD album I bought (though not the first I'd heard) was their now legendary double vinyl album Europe 72 which is still one of my favourite albums and which I own in the extended version as part of the thicker than a brick box (and I do mean box) set The Golden Road 1965-73. Just recently they released The Complete Europe 72 Sessions which cost over $400.00 and even I'm not that mad. Volume 2. however, is a selection of the best from that version with none of the tracks having been issued on the original album.

Now in the comments section in the GD newsletter were a few that complained about their not being a limited bonus CD which is common with these sets, but also that it was already available on Az.com at a cheaper price! Now while I am trying to give up my irregular habit of buy GD live sets and sold a few on Az marketplace, I was tempted by Europe 72 vol.2 so I checked the Az UK price -£19.65- which struck me as a little expensive for only a 2-disc set, so I checked Az.com.

I was quite shocked to find that their price was only 12 dollars and change. I added it to my basket and went through the procedure until it put on the postage which I then converted into pounds and it came to £12 and change. a saving of seven, or more than a third. Naturally I went ahead and confirmed the order.

So, there you have it. It pays to check Az.com prices for some items now and again as you could save yourself some money.

The one I didn't buy.

Life's too short to be that obsessive.

MUSIC: REDISCOVERIES

Well, not so much rediscovery as uncovery. You see I'd put them somewhere and forgotten where I'd put them and they weren't in the obvious places. Most of the time this didn't both me except when I was flicking through Itunes and I'd notice that they weren't on the very long list of music I'd copied from my CDs (and downloaded, but that's not really relevant here). I suspected that they were buried in boxes deep in the depths of our garage. 

Then Susan decided that we had to empty my study. This is actually the third and smallest bedroom which contains: a bed with all my Amazon selling stock in boxes on top of it; three sets of bookcases containing (yes, obviously) books, graphic novels, DVDs, and CDs. One long but low 3-shelf bookcase was half hidden by the bed, completely obscuring the bottom shelf and that is where I found the following three massive box sets by The Grateful Dead (two) and Sandy Denny (one, in case you weren't sure).

And they are big and beautiful.

This is a gorgeous 5-disc 85 track collection with a fabulous booklet containing an introduction by Richard Thompson, an extended warts and all biography, comments by fellow musicians and friends, plus full track details. Apart from the fact that it doesn't include my favourite song ever (understandable: see my favourite 100 songs), it's as perfect a compilation as you could wish to hope for. Emphasis on compilation. I've recently learned that next year will see a 19-disc box set containing everything that Sandy ever recorded and will retail for around £140.00 from Amazon. I don't intend to buy it but don't be surprised if I do.

And these two hunky boxes, about as thick as a brick but bigger, contain all the band's major label albums and span nearly a quarter of a century. They also contain massive booklets with dozens of photos. Golden Road begins with a 2-cd of studio and live recordings before they became The Grateful Dead and are mostly unreleased. The rest of the albums have all been remastered and extended, sometimes almost doubling in length. Their running time averages (at a conservative estimate) around 75 minutes per disc and there are 12 discs in each box making a total running time of 30 hours for the two. A number of the albums are live but as the Dead were primarily a live band, many of their songs were never recorded in the studio. Each album comes in a replica sleeve with a new introduction by a variety of people from cult actors to sound engineers.

Together, the box sets are an amazing piece work with all the experimental stuff, jamming, mix of folk/blues/rock/country/bluegrass, long guitar solos and not totally boring drum & percussion solos. Even more amazing is that this is the tip of their recorded output. Also available on their own label are dozens of live albums in multi-disc sets and there are usually three or more every year. I've got about eight and that's my lot.

But I've said that before.