Gene Clark- A star for every stage

A Star For Every Stage is a bootleg with former Byrds member Gene Clark and friends, recorded live May 16, 1985 at 3-T's, Evansville, IN. The "friends" include The Band's Rick Danko and Richard Manuel, ex-Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin, and others. Danko and Chaplin toured for a while with Clark on his Byrds / Burritto Bros. "reunion" concerts in the '80s.
Danko and Manuel sing lead on "Honest I Do" (mistitled "Stop Driving Me Crazy" in the CD tracklist) and on the two Band songs "The Rumor" and "The Shape I'm In."

Tracks

1. It's All Over Now
2. Just an Arrow (mistitled "Old Paint")
3. "Stop Driving Me Crazy" (Danko)
4. The Shape I'm In (Manuel)
5. Shake Your Ass
6. Why Did You Leave Me?
7. Silver Raven
8. Feel A Whole Lot Better
9. Chimes Of Freedom
10. Sail On Sailor
11. So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star
12. Eight Miles High
13. Turn Turn Turn

 

Personell

Gene Clark, guitar / vocal
Michael Clarke, drums
Rick Danko, bass / guitar / vocal
Richard Manuel, keyboard / vocal
John Yorke, bass / guitar / vocal
Blondie Chaplin, guitar / vocal
Rick Roberts, vocal

Native Son- Loggins & Messina

Over the course of their 5 years together, Loggins and Messina released 5 albums of original studio material. The last of these, "Native Sons", was by far the worst. And as much as I loved the first four, listening to this lackluster album makes me think it really was time for these guys to go their separate ways. Though it's not easy to say exactly what is wrong with this album, there are some clear differences from the earlier material. For one thing, there are some personnel changes. Long time collaborators Al Garth (violin, horns) and Michael Omartian (keyboards) are gone. The resulting overall sound is much more lite-rock/pop. The country influences have been downplayed, the band seldom jams, the playing is almost never "hot", and Jimmy Messina's excellent guitar work is barely in evidence. Instead, we get more flute, less sax, more string orchestration. The vocal sound leans more heavily on hired-gun harmonizers. In fact, Messina doesn't sing at all on most of Loggins' songs. To me, it seems that the songwriting doesn't hold up as well, either, although perhaps it is the arrangements that make me feel this way, rather than the songs themselves. A lot of the changes in the sound would later be further amplified on Kenny Loggins' early solo albums, so if you like those a lot you'll probably like this album more than I do.

Roadmaster- Gene Clark

I only had to play this album once to know I was in love with it, and that Gene, as someone else has stated, is truly the Roadmaster. This is, by far and away, the best of all of his solo works, and I think I may need to purchase at least two more copies to keep up with the degree of wear and tear I expose this disc to. I simply cannot stop playing it!

This is simply the most beautiful folk-country-rock album I've purchased in ages, and Gene's vocals are superlative on every track. Not only do we have a veritable Byrds reunion going on with "She's the Kind of Girl" and his remake of "One in a Hundred" from White Light, but we have a roster of impressive musicians such as Byron Berline, Rick Roberts, and Bernie Leadon joining him for a very strong collection of soul stirring, romantic songs that are enough to melt glaciers into a puddle of bubbling goo.

That winsome, tremolo-heavy voice full of longing is too friggin' appealing for yours truly and, sorry kids, but I think I have myself one huge jones going on here. Nobody can deny the commercial appeal of a great, underrated classic like "Full Circle Song" (Ask Dan Fogelberg who treated it very nicely.), but my personal favorite is "Here Tonight," which is pretty straight forward about his loathing of touring. "In a Misty Morning" and "Shooting Star" are some more of his beautiful, gentle poetry at spellbinding work. He proves he can have some cool, sexy, soulful fun on the title track, but what really gets me, surprisingly enough? Beautifully passionate covers of the Flatt and Scruggs song "Rough and Rocky" and his gorgeous gospel reading of "I Don't Really Want to Know."

I know some of you think No Other is God's ultimate gift to the Gene Clark arsenal, but I don't happen to agree. As far as I'm concerned, Roadmaster is the quintessential best of the man, and anything less than a 4-star rating is pure folly. Trust me, you want this album, and you want to listen to it FREQUENTLY. I am passionate about it and, if you give it a listen, you will be too.



Flying Burrito Brothers-Seattle Pop festival 1969

Flying Burrito Brothers 1969

The Flying Burrito Brothers
1969-07-27
Seattle Pop Festival, Woodenville, WA
Additional tracks - 1970-05, Wynona, MN
"The High Lonesome Sound of The Flying Burrito Brothers"Sounboard recording, Very good quality
mp3 @ 320
Artwork Included

This is a well-travelled bootleg release that combines 2 shows together, the first is the full show from the Seattle Pop Festival in July 1969, and featuring the original lineup (with Gram parsons & Chris Ethridge). The second part are some tracks from a show in Wynona, MN in May 1970. By this time, Chris Ethridge had left and was replaced by Bernie Leadon (with Chris Hillman shifting to Bass and Bernie playing lead guitar). Although Gram was still technically in the band at this point, he had become unreliable (due to lack of interest & discipline, and the start of his drug problem), not showing up, missing gigs, etc., and was not present at this show. Within the next month Gram would be officially booted from the band.

Tracklist:
1. Close Up The Honky Tonks 2:40
2. Dark End Of The Street 3:54
3. Sweet Mental Revenge 3:15
4. The Image Of Me 3:22
5. Christine's Tune 5:34
6. Sin City 4:09
7. Man In A Fog 2:47
8. Wake Up Little Susie 3:11
9. You Win Again 3:38
10. We've Got To Get Ourselves Together 3:44
11. She Thinks I Still Care 5:29
12. Sweet Dreams Baby 2:55
13. Lucille 2:37
14. Take A Message To Mary 3:07
15. Train Song 3:28
16. Lazy Day 4:03
17. 100 Years Ago 3:09
18. My Uncle 3:02
19. High Fashion Queen 2:12
20. Cody Cody 3:03
21. Wild Horses 6:21

Tracks 1-15, 07-27-1969, Seattle Pop Festival, Woodenville, WA,
Lineup: Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, Chris Ethridge, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Michael Clarke
Tracks 16-21, 05-1970, Wynona, MN,  Lineup: Chris Hillman, Bernie Leadon, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Michael Clarke
LINK
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MJGSPV02

Eagles-The Long Run

If you have to go out, you should go out with a bang. The Eagles did that with this album, which yielded three singles: "The Long Run", "Heartache Tonight", and "I Can't Tell You Why". The three songs may sound similar to some, but the third song was a mellow ballad, the second had a fast beat with solid percussion, and the first song, as much as I enjoyed it, I always thought of as The Eagle in molasses. A good song, but I always thought the song strained to be sped up. Not to be overlooked on this album is the last song, "The Sad Cafe", which is a swan song for The Eagles much like "The Long and Winding Road" was The Beatles' swan song. The bluesy, sad song ends the 1972 to 1979 run of The Eagles nostalgically. Coincidentally the end of The Eagles coincided with the end of the decade, the eminence of disco and the transition to New Wave and the techno driven pop of the 80s. Looking back, perhaps it was time for The Eagle to move on to other things (though I still don't think so).
The rest of the album is decent, generally listenable. Six of the songs were co-written by at least three people. The other four songs were written by two people. Glenn Frey and Don Henley contributed the most, but I still think that the huge difference between "Hotel California", "The Long Run" and what came before shows the influence of Joe Walsh. After the break up of The Eagles, Glenn and Don were considered sufficiently up-to-date to have their music selected for the then extremely stylish and modern "Miami Vice". Quite a change from the early cowboy boots and rattlesnakes era of The Eagles.
Perhaps this album wasn't their best. I think it would be more fair to say it is not my favorite Eagles' album. But who cares? We all have our own favorites. The question is whether the album is worth owning. I think it is. I prefer this album over the second greatest hits collection that was largely from "Hotel California" and "The Long Run". If you are influenced by the other reviews to be concerned that you might not like many of the songs on this CD, then buy the second volume of The Eagles' greatest hits and pass this one by. I think it is a good album and worth having in my collection.



Nitty Gritty Dirt Band -Bang Bang Bang

After more than 30 years in the business, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band knows a thing or two about making great music. The release of "Bang, Bang, Bang" was delayed by a year because of the demise of Rising Tide Records, but you don't have to be a die-hard Dirt Head to see that this collection is well worth the wait! "Rent, Groceries and Gasoline," "The Monkey Song" and the title track are already road-tested, having been part of the NGDB concert set list for several months while the band closed a deal with the DreamWorks label. Whether it's a pure-fun novelty song like "Monkey" (written and sung by NGDB's Jimmy Ibbotson) or a sweet, romantic ballad like "It's About Time," featuring band member Jeff Hanna in a duet with his wife, Matraca Berg (who co-wrote the Deana Carter smash "Strawberry Wine"), this album is chock-full of soon-to-be-classic Dirt. Aside from the great singing, Bang is also a showcase for the fine instrumental musicianship of Ibbotson, Hanna, keyboard/accordion player Bob Carpenter and drummer/harmonica virtuoso Jimmie Fadden. These "Partners, Brothers and Friends" have long been one of the country/pop world's best kept secrets. They're back and better than ever. Check this one out, you won't be disappointed.



Emmylou Harris- Hard Bargain

Hard Bargain is Emmylou Harris' first release in almost 3 years and it was worth the wait! Her vocals are smooth as honey and hugely emotive and her voice still has that irresistible frail breathlessness. The songs are well written with meaningful lyrics and the music, as always, is beautiful and intuitive. It's hard to believe there are only 3 musicians, including Harris, making all the music. Long, weeping fiddle notes and chunky, contemplative piano chords are balanced only by the occasional tentative brightness of a banjo or mandolin. The percussion is distant, if there at all, but always clever. "Darlin' Kate" is about her close friend Kate McGarrigle who died last year of cancer. "The Road" looks back to her formative years spent with the late Gram Parsons at the start of her career. "Big Black Dog" is inspired by her animal shelter philanthropy and is the only almost-happy song on the album. "My name is Emmett Till is the true story of a 14 year old black boy killed in Mississippi for talking to a white woman. Overall the strength and sincerity of Harris' songs make this just another reason to love and respect her.