Watershed –
Indigo Girls
Heard
2/13/2015 around 12:30, at Wegman’s (Germantown)
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Monday, February 9, 2015
Arlo Guthrie – Alice’s Restaurant 50th Anniversary Tour, Weinberg Center for the Arts (Frederick MD), 2/5/2015
Wonderful
show by Arlo and band (including his son Abe) this past Thursday – highly recommended
even if you’re not a huge fan. (You will come out a bigger fan.) Started by
performing “Motorcycle Song” along with a cartoon version from the 60s that recently
turned up. Anecdotes abounded, from Woodstock to Rambling Jack Elliott “keeping
an eye on him” when he made his first trip to California to perform. Kicked off
the second set with “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, synced to scenes from the
movie of the same name, and encored with a touching audience sing-along to “Peace
Song”, for which Arlo had written a tune to go with his father’s lyrics. Other
highlights included “Coming into Los Angeles”, “Me And My Goose”, “City of New
Orleans” (which according to Arlo was turned down by Johnny Cash), and of
course “This Land Is Your Land”.
We decided
to go to the Weinberg rather than to one of the two shows at the Birchmere
since they offered reserved seating. We were in the left orchestra section on
the aisle in row T – not bad, but a little distant. Lucked out a bit
dinner-wise at Sumittra, a nice Thai restaurant a block away, by getting two
seats without having made a reservation. Hadn’t expected a big crowd on a
Thursday evening, but it’s not a large place.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
LP #23 Joni Mitchell – Hejira (1976)
I had a lot
of trouble settling on a favorite Joni album, among this one, Ladies of the Canyon, and Court and Spark. I finally settled on Hejira despite the lack of radio hits
due to the jazzy feel, most notably the bass work of Jaco Pastorius on a couple
of the cuts. It hangs together nicely as a whole, without any weak songs in the
bunch.
Favorite
tracks:
Hejira
Song For
Sharon
Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Strathmore, 1/30/2015
Really
enjoyed the show at Strathmore last Friday night – good seats, which was fortunate
because the performance was much more visual than we expected (you have to be
able to do more than sing to join this ensemble!). Wondered whether or not they
would do anything from Graceland –
they didn’t in their first set, but started off after intermission with the
first part of “Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes” and later did all of “Homeless”.
Other highlights included “Long Walk To Freedom” and “Rain Rain Beautiful Rain”.
We decided to arrive early and eat at the Strathmore café; the prime rib was
quite good.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Sunday, January 25, 2015
LP #24 Cold Blood (1969)
What’s
wrong with this recipe?
Start
with a great bluesy singer, Lydia Pense. (Think Janis Joplin without the death
rattle.) Stir in some Latin percussion and a great horn section, add great
material to work with, and hook the whole thing up with legendary rock promoter
Bill Graham.
You’d
think you would wind up with an act that was every bit as successful as, say,
Santana, or Blood, Sweat & Tears. Instead, other than at a concert by the
band I went to last year, nobody I mention them to has ever heard of them. This
album did manage to reach a respectable #23 on Billboard’s sales chart when it
came out, and they put out some good stuff afterwards as well.
Fortunately,
the best of their music is easily available in digital form, although finding
CDs can be hit or miss.
Favorite
tracks:
I’m A Good
Woman / Let Me Down Easy (really need to be heard back-to-back)
If You Will
Shuffle #46 (January 25, 2015)
There’s No
Other Like My Baby – The Crystals
Zydeco Dog –
Zachary Smith & The Dixie Power Trio
Watershed –
Indigo Girls
Teach Your
Children – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Dead And
Gone – Gypsy
If I Wanted
Someone – Dawes
Stay –
Jackson Browne
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Shuffle #45 (January 24, 2015)
Mr. Blue –
The Fleetwoods
Bubbly –
Colbie Caillat
It’s All In
The Game – Tommy Edwards
The Carnival
Is Over – The Seekers
Brandy (You’re
A Fine Girl) – Looking Glass
Lonesome
Hound – The Beat Farmers
Nightshift –
The Commodores
Thieves In
The Temple – Prince
Walking Down
Your Street – The Bangles
Just Another
Day – John Mellancamp
Thursday, January 22, 2015
LP #25 Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express – Closer To It! (1973)
I honestly
can’t remember when or why I bought this album. It came out while I was in
college, but I can’t remember any friends who were familiar with the band, or
hearing any of their stuff on the radio. Possibly I just liked the cover
art. ;-)
Organist
Brian Auger started out doing straight jazz in the 1960s, moved over to
rock/R&B (hiring Rod Stewart for one of his bands), and finally managed to
sucessfully fuse the two. According to the liner notes for the 2006 CD reissue,
the band basically invented “acid jazz”; I would characterize it as “rock-influenced
jazz with incidental vocals”, but what the heck. The sound is heavy on percussion,
often with a Latin flavor, and Auger’s Hammond organ, with the vocals (also by
Auger) mixed to be much less prominent.
By the way,
the booklet for the CD has a great poster from a 1973 concert. The following is
in large type at the top, surrounding a photo of the band:
TRENTON STATE
COLLEGE UNION BOARD
PRESENTS …
BRIAN AUGER’S
OBLIVION EXPRESS
Followed by
(in smaller type, with a much smaller photo):
WITH SPECIAL GUEST
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Favorite
tracks:
Voices Of
Other Times
Inner City
Blues
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Shuffle #44 (January 17, 2015)
Prayer In
Open D – Emmylou Harris
Love Ain’t
For Keeping – The Who
Your Love Is
King – Sade
Every
Teardrop Is A Waterfall – Coldplay
Your Good
Thing (Is About To End) – Lou Rawls
Best Thing
That Ever Happened To Me – Gladys Knight & The Pips
Ain’t It Fun
– Paramore
Titanium –
David Guetta f/ Sia
The Gentle
Rain – George Benson
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