Tag Archives: The-Band

The Band’s Eponymous Release Celebrated With Expanded 50th Anniversary Edition

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The Band fans rejoice!

On November 15, Capitol/UMe will celebrate The Band’s eponymous second album (as some have come to coin it “The Brown Album”) with a selection of newly remixed and expanded 50th Anniversary Edition packages, including a Super Deluxe 2CD/Blu-ray/2LP/7-inch vinyl boxed set with a hardbound book; 2CD, digital, 180-gram 2LP black vinyl, and limited edition 180-gram 2LP “tiger’s eye” color vinyl packages.

The expanded set features a new stereo mix by Bob Clearmountain from the original multi-track masters, similar to the acclaimed 50th anniversary collections of last year’s Music From Big Pink releases. The 50th Anniversary Edition’s CD, digital, and box set configurations also include 13 outtakes, featuring six previously unreleased outtakes and alternate recordings from The Band sessions, as well as The Band’s legendary Woodstock performance, which has never been officially released.

Exclusively for the box set, Clearmountain has also created a new 5.1 surround mix for the album and bonus tracks, presented on Blu-ray with the new stereo, both in high resolution audio (96kHz/24bit). All the new audio mixes have been mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering. The box set also includes an exclusive reproduction of The Band’s 1969 7-inch vinyl single for “Rag Mama Rag” / “The Unfaithful Servant” in their new stereo mixes and a hardbound book with an extensive, illuminating new essay by author and music critic Anthony DeCurtis and classic photos by Elliott Landy which have had an inimitable influence on rock and roll. For the album’s new vinyl editions, Chris Bellman cut the vinyl lacquers for the album’s new stereo mix at 45 rpm at Bernie Grundman Mastering, expanding the album’s vinyl footprint from one LP to two.

Ironically for an album that captures the rustic essence of Americana the recording sessions took place in a Hollywood Hills mansion once owns by Judy Garland, Wally Cox and, at the time the group worked there, Sammy Davis, Jr.

According to Robbie Robertson, the location was chosen to give the songs a Basement Tapes–like feel in what was termed “a clubhouse concept.”[https://www.mixonline.com/recording/classic-tracks-bands-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-364938] Three songs to finish the album (from “Up on Cripple Creek” through “Jemima Surrender”) and they spent a month setting up a recording studio in a backyard pool house.

Their label Capitol Records needed some convincing around the “clubhouse concept” as his was an unusual request in 1969 recording processes. Robbie Robertson had a powerful ally in co-producer John Simon. “John was really good at supporting this thing,” Robertson says, “because engineers and the people from the record company would always say, ‘Are you sure about this?’ They had their doubts. And we didn’t want to waste the money if it wasn’t going to work, although we were pretty confident that it was going to work. But John was good at giving them a sense of confidence about it, that there was no question that it was going to work and that it was going to be good.”

The Band was released on September 22, 1969 and it immediately caused a sensation Propelled by the surprise hit “Up on Cripple Creek,” and strong FM airplay for “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Rag Mama Rag” and “Across the
Great Divide,” the album rocketed into the Top 10 and established The Band as
Bona fide rock stars landing them on the cover of January 1970’s Time magazine heralding them as “The New Sound of Country Rock.”

Preorder The Band (50th Anniversary Edition)

CD1; Digital
1. Across The Great Divide
2. Rag Mama Rag
3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
4. When You Awake
5. Up On Cripple Creek
6. Whispering Pines
7. Jemima Surrender
8. Rockin’ Chair
9. Look Out Cleveland
10. Jawbone
11. The Unfaithful Servant
12. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
Bonus Tracks:
1. Up On Cripple Creek (Earlier Take) *
2. Rag Mama Rag (Alternate Version) *
3. The Unfaithful Servant (Alternate Version) *
4. Look Out Cleveland (Instrumental Mix) *
5. Rockin’ Chair (A Cappella / Stripped Down) *
6. Up On Cripple Creek (Instrumental Mix) *
* Previous unreleased

CD2; Digital
Live At Woodstock, 1969 (Original Rough Mixes)
1. Chest Fever
2. Tears Of Rage
3. We Can Talk
4. Don’t Ya Tell Henry
5. Baby Don’t You Do It
6. Ain’t No More Cane On The Brazos
7. Long Black Veil
8. This Wheel’s On Fire
9. I Shall Be Released
10. The Weight
11. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
Additional Studio Bonus Tracks:
12. Get Up Jake (Outtake – Stereo Mix)
13. Rag Mama Rag (Alternate Vocal Take – Rough Mix)
14. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Alternate Mix)
15. Up On Cripple Creek (Alternate Take)
16. Whispering Pines (Alternate Take)
17. Jemima Surrender (Alternate Take)
18. King Harvest (Has Surely Come) (Alternate Performance)

Blu-ray (Stereo and 5.1 Surround – High Resolution Audio: 96 kHz/24 bit)
1. Across The Great Divide
2. Rag Mama Rag
3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
4. When You Awake
5. Up On Cripple Creek
6. Whispering Pines
7. Jemima Surrender
8. Rockin’ Chair
9. Look Out Cleveland
10. Jawbone
11. The Unfaithful Servant
12. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
Bonus Tracks:
13. Up On Cripple Creek (Earlier Version)
14. Rag Mama Rag (Alternate Version)
15. The Unfaithful Servant Alternate Version)
16. Look Out Cleveland (Instrumental Mix)
17. Rockin’ Chair (A Cappella / Stripped Down)
18. Up On Cripple Creek (Instrumental Mix)

“Classic Albums – The Band” (Documentary)

2LP (45 RPM)
180g black vinyl (included in the box set and available individually); ltd. edition 180g pink vinyl (available individually)
Side One
1. Across The Great Divide
2. Rag Mama Rag
3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Side Two
1. When You Awake
2. Up On Cripple Creek
3. Whispering Pines

Side Three
1. Jemima Surrender
2. Rockin’ Chair
3. Look Out Cleveland

Side Four
1. Jawbone
2. The Unfaithful Servant
3. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)

“Rag Mama Rag” (Original 1969 7” Capitol Single)
A. Rag Mama Rag
B. The Unfaithful Servant

The Band’s Landmark Debut ‘Music From Big Pink’ To Get 50th Anniversary Edition Treatment This Summer

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'Music From Big Pink' To Get 50th Anniversary Edition

On July 1, 1968, The Band’s landmark debut album, Music from Big Pink, seemed to spring from nowhere and everywhere. Drawing from the American roots music panoply of country, blues, R&B, gospel, soul, rockabilly, the honking tenor sax tradition, hymns, funeral dirges, brass band music, folk, and rock ‘n’ roll, The Band forged a timeless new style that forever changed the course of popular music. Fifty years later, the mythology surrounding Music from Big Pink lives on through the evocative storytelling of its songs including “The Weight,” “This Wheel’s On Fire,” “Tears of Rage,” and “To Kingdom Come,” its enigmatic cover art painted by Bob Dylan, the salmon-colored upstate New York house – ‘Big Pink’ – where The Band wrote the songs, and in myriad descendant legends carried forth since the album’s stunning arrival.

On August 31, Capitol/UMe will release Music From Big Pink in newly remixed and expanded 50th Anniversary Edition packages, including a Super Deluxe CD/Blu-ray/2LP/7-inch vinyl box set with a hardbound book; 1CD, digital, 180-gram 2LP black vinyl, and limited edition 180-gram 2LP pink vinyl packages. All the Anniversary Edition configurations feature a new stereo mix for the album, produced by Bob Clearmountain from the original four-track analog masters, achieving a striking clarity and incorporating some previously unreleased chatter from the studio sessions. The 50th Anniversary Edition’s CD, digital, and box set configurations also include five outtakes and alternate recordings from the ‘Big Pink’ sessions and a previously unreleased a cappella version of “I Shall Be Released.”

Exclusively for the box set, Clearmountain has also produced a new 5.1 surround mix for the album and the bonus tracks, presented on Blu-ray with the new stereo mix in high-resolution audio (96kHz/24bit). All the new audio mixes have been mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering. The box set also includes an exclusive reproduction of The Band’s 1968 7-inch vinyl single for “The Weight” / “I Shall Be Released” in their new stereo mixes and a hardbound book with a new essay by noted music journalist David Fricke and classic photos by Elliott Landy. For the album’s new vinyl editions, Chris Bellman cut the vinyl lacquers for the album’s new stereo mix at 45rpm at Bernie Grundman Mastering, expanding the album’s vinyl footprint from one LP to two. The black and pink vinyl LPs were pressed at GZ Vinyl / Precision.

Pre-order “Music From Big Pink: The 50th Anniversary Edition” here.

The Band Vinyl Box Set To Be Released

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The seven studio albums released by the Band on Capital records will be released in a new vinyl boxset, ‘The Band: The Capitol Albums 1968-1977.’

The nine disc set includes such classics as Music From ‘Big Pink’, ‘The Band’ and ‘Stage Fright’ along with the double live album Rock of Ages.

All will be remastered for vinyl from the original analog masters. The LPs are housed in a heavy-duty outer box with the original artwork and packaging faithfully recreated for each title.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pgtfuw1X28&sns=em

From the press release:
Before stepping into their own spotlight in 1968, The Band’s members already shared an extensive collaborative history. Between 1960 and 1962, the then-teenaged multi-instrumentalists Levon Helm (drums, vocals, mandolin), Robbie Robertson (guitar, piano, vocals), Rick Danko (bass, vocals, fiddle), Richard Manuel (keyboards, vocals, drums) and Garth Hudson (keyboards, horns) first performed and recorded together as members of the backing band for Ronnie Hawkins called the Hawks. In late 1963, the Hawks struck out on their own and became Levon & the Hawks, performing and recording under this name in 1964 and 1965.

In 1965, Robertson met with Bob Dylan in New York, just as Dylan was seeking an electric guitarist for his touring band. Robertson and Helm joined Dylan at his Forest Hills and Hollywood Bowl shows, and then convinced Dylan to bring all The Hawks on for the rest of the tour. The Hawks backed Dylan on the road from October 1965 through 1966 as he incensed audiences in the U.S., Australia and Europe, performing electric sets. Disheartened by the vocally disdainful ‘folkie purist’ audience response to their first plugged-in performances with Dylan, Helm left the band in November 1965.

After the 1966 tour concluded, The Hawks woodshedded for the next year in upstate New York, often in the company of Dylan, forging a highly original sound that in one way or another encompassed the panoply of American roots music: country, blues, R&B, gospel, soul, rockabilly, the honking tenor sax tradition, Anglican hymns, funeral dirges, brass band music, folk music, and modern rock, fused and synthesized in ways that no one had ever before thought possible.

In 1967, the former Hawks were re-joined by Helm as they prepared to record their first full-length album. The Band was born in 1968 with the release of Music From Big Pink, which debuted to glowing reviews; a journalist for Life magazine wrote that The Band “dipped into the well of tradition and came up with a bucketful of clear, cool, country soul that washed the ears with a sound never heard before.” While the album only reached No. 30 on Billboard’s chart when it was released, it has become recognized over time as one of the most important albums in the history of rock, and its lead single, The Weight, a timeless rock staple.

The Band’s second, self-titled album, released in 1969, was launched with the hit Up On Cripple Creek. But it was the second single, Robertson’s Civil War song, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, that rose to the top of the charts (for both The Band and Joan Baez), pushing the album to gold and elevating The Band to headliner status. Both hits were sung by Helm. Two more songs from The Band would go on to become staples of FM rock radio, the rollicking Rag Mama Rag and the socially conscious King Harvest (Has Surely Come).

Stage Fright ushered The Band into the ’70s. Both the title track, sung by Danko, a reflection on the stardom they had achieved, and The Shape I’m In, featuring Manuel’s vocals, became FM favorites as album rock burgeoned into a viable format. The Band’s fourth album, 1971’s Cahoots, features the funky, New Orleans sound of Life Is A Carnival, a collaboration by Robertson, Helm and Danko, and Bob Dylan’s When I Paint My Masterpiece, which preceded Dylan’s own recorded version.

During the final week of 1971, The Band played four legendary concerts at New York City’s Academy Of Music, ushering in the New Year with electrifying performances, including new horn arrangements by Allen Toussaint and a surprise guest appearance by Dylan for a New Year’s Eve encore. Highlights from the concerts were compiled for The Band’s classic 1972 double LP, Rock Of Ages, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and remains a core album in the group’s Capitol catalog (in 2013, Capitol/UMe released remixed recordings from all four shows on The Band: Live At The Academy Of Music 1971).

Moondog Matinee, an album of cover songs released in 1973, features The Band’s version of Ain’t Got No Home, a 1957 R&B hit by New Orleans legend Clarence “Frogman” Henry. Helm credited Hudson with rigging up a hose he sang through to achieve “that lovely frog voice” the song requires.

The Band’s sixth studio album was Northern Lights-Southern Cross, a clever reference to their Canadian roots and their love of the American South. The 1975 album features the Dixieland-tinged Ophelia, as well as Acadian Driftwood and It Makes No Difference. Released in 1977, Islands was The Band’s final Capitol album and the last to feature the group’s original line-up. The album includes The Saga of Pepote Rouge, a typically eccentric Band song, and a cover of Georgia On My Mind.

In 1989, The Band was inducted into the Canadian Juno Hall of Fame; five years later they were accorded the same honor by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008, The Band was honored with The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Sadly, three members of The Band, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko and Levon Helm, have passed away, but The Band’s legacy lives on, in their recordings and in their tangible influence on popular music since they first hit the scene, wowing not only Bob Dylan, but many other major players of the day, including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and Miles Davis. Making Americana music before the term even existed, Rick, Levon, Garth, Richard and Robbie collectively constituted the only ensemble to ever rightfully earn the sobriquet The Band.
The Band: The Capitol Albums 1968-1977 will be released on July 31.

The Last Waltz -Reflections and Alternate Footage

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On November 25th, 1976, Thanksgiving Day, San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom was the setting for the end of an era. One that had started seventeen years earlier when Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson aligned as The Hawks, a backing band for rockabilly pioneer Ronnie Hawkins.

The concert most famously known as ‘The Last Waltz,’ from the Martin Scorsese documentary and resulting best-selling soundtrack, was part fan’s, friend’s and peer’s celebration of a legendary band and a grand and final statement mandated by Robertson, who unilaterally wanted to end The Band as a touring entity.

Through Scorsese’s studied gaze, and his love of music, the film delivers an intimate and exuberant slice of music history But off-screen business maneuvering, lawyers and a fair amount of paranoia and hubris tainted the celebration and drove a wedge between Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson that time, and lawyers, never remedied.

As Helm recalled in his book ‘This Wheel’s on Fire’ Robertson “… was saying he was sick of it all. He wanted to keep on recording with us, but not go on the road. ‘We’re not learning anything, man. It’s not doing anything for us, and in fact it feels dangerous to me. Look what’s happening, Levon. I’m getting superstitious. Look at Dayton Stratton (a friend and associate of The Band who had died in an air crash). Every time I get on the plane I’m thinking about this stuff. The whole thing just isn’t healthy anymore.’

Set designer Boris Leven lent a deft hand in creating a cozy yet grand stage aesthetic. Using stored props from Opera Company of San Francisco’s production of Verdi’s opera ‘La Traviata’ – columns, chandeliers, crimson wall hangings – Leven grandly melded lavish pomp with living room comfort to set a fitting au revoir.

Contrast this with the ‘Cocteau Room.’ A backstage space painted white walls to ceiling, with white carpeting. Also furnished was a glass table strewn with razor blades for the express purpose of cocaine use for the gathered guests. Helm remembers Scorsese being so wired that “he talked so fast I barely understood a word he said.”

Though there’s no denying the talent and magic of some of the performances, I’m left wondering if this was a bit of thunder stealing. After a spirited full set by The Band, complete with horns arranged by Allen Toussaint, the latter portion of the bill relinquished The Band to back-up positions. Not only of their former frontmen Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan but also for Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison and others who performed their own songs.

Though this no doubt broadened the marketing potential for the movie and soundtrack I personally believe it was taking the spotlight from its proper focus, The Band and their musical legacy. Wouldn’t it have been more fitting, and appropriate if these artists were brought on to support the group in their own songs and them maybe then given one of their own? I believe so.

But it’s all history now, and the music remains. This was even more poignant to me after I happened across this great raw footage of the event. Footage that shows the performances like the crowd that night experienced it.

Let us give thanks that The Band was with us, no matter how briefly, and left a rich musical trail-blazing legacy still followed, and celebrated today.

Bob Dylan to Release Complete Sessions of Legendary “Basement Tapes”

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bob-dylan-basement-tapes

According to Consequence of Sound

The entire collection of work by Bob Dylan and The Band (then known as the Crackers) Basement Tapes sessions will be available to the general public. Coming November 4th via Legacy Recordings, the six-disc collection covers an impressive 138 tracks, 30 of which were never of known to exist until today’s announcement. Several other tracks have only existed as mediocre bootleg recordings.

The Basement tapes are the Rosetta Stone of modern roots and Americana music. These sessions occurred in the wake of Dylan’s post motorcycle crash recovery in 1966. Dylan and the band holed up in the basement of a Woodstock, New York house known as the Big Pink, where members of the Band were using as their base. They proceeded to record over 100 tracks together, including “This Wheel’s on Fire”, “I Shall Be Released” and “Tears of Rage” which appeared on The Band’s debut album, “Music from Big Pink.” Other cuts included “Quinn the Eskimo,” which Manfred Mann recorded and charted in the UK , “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” recorded as a single by the Byrds as well as “Nothing Was Delivered”, which appeared on “Sweetheart of the Rodeo.”

Rolling Stone posts that the unreleased material includes an “epic, apocalyptic rocker” called “Wild Wolf”; an early version of “I Shall Be Released” with slightly different lyrics; a cover of Hank Williams’ 1949 song “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It”; and “country-fied” versions of “Blowin’ in the Wind”, “It Ain’t Me Babe”, and “One Too Many Mornings”, featuring keyboardist Richard Manuel handling lead vocals on the first verse. “”The stuff that people haven’t heard justifies, in every way, shape and form, all the hype, hubris and myth that surrounds these tapes,” says folk musician and writer Sid Griffin, who wrote the liner notes for this new collection (which is also being released as a two-disc version and three-LP set). “Some of this stuff is mind-boggling.”

Below, stream an alternate take of the original “Odds and Ends”

The deluxe edition of the album also includes a 120-page companion book featuring extensive liner notes and previously unseen photographs and memorabilia. Also available will be a more concise version dubbed, The Basement Tapes Raw, featuring 38 tracks on two discs or three LPs. See the full tracklist below.

Pre-order The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11(Deluxe Edition) vinyl or CD

The Basement Tapes Complete serves as the 11th installment in Dylan’s ongoing “The Bootleg Series.” The release also coincides with the release “Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes” featuring a whos’who of roots-rockers – My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Mumford and Sons’ Marcus Mumford, Elvis Costello,Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith, Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Rhiannon Giddens, and shephareded by T-Bone Burnett.

The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 Tracklist:

CD 1
Disc: 1
01. Edge of the Ocean
02. My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It
03. Roll on Train
04. Mr. Blue
05. Belshazzar
06. I Forgot to Remember to Forget
07. You Win Again
08. Still in Town
09. Waltzing with Sin
10. Big River (Take 1)
11. Big River (Take 2)
12. Folsom Prison Blues
13. Bells of Rhymney
14. Spanish is the Loving Tongue
15. Under Control
16. Ol’ Roison the Beau
17. I’m Guilty of Loving You
18. Cool Water
19. The Auld Triangle
20. Po’ Lazarus
21. I’m a Fool for You (Take 1)
22. I’m a Fool for You (Take 2)

Disc: 2
01. Johnny Todd
02. Tupelo
03. Kickin’ My Dog Around
04. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 1)
05. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 2)
06. Tiny Montgomery
07. Big Dog
08. I’m Your Teenage Prayer
09. Four Strong Winds
10. The French Girl (Take 1)
11. The French Girl (Take 2)
12. Joshua Gone Barbados
13. I’m in the Mood
14. Baby Ain’t That Fine
15. Rock, Salt and Nails
16. A Fool Such As I
17. Song for Canada
18. People Get Ready
19. I Don’t Hurt Anymore
20. Be Careful of Stones That You Throw
21. One Man’s Loss
22. Lock Your Door
23. Baby, Won’t You be My Baby
24. Try Me Little Girl
25. I Can’t Make it Alone
26. Don’t You Try Me Now

Disc: 3
01. Young but Daily Growing
02. Bonnie Ship the Diamond
03. The Hills of Mexico
04. Down on Me
05. One for the Road
06. I’m Alright
07. Million Dollar Bash (Take 1)
08. Million Dollar Bash (Take 2)
09. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread (Take 1)
10. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread (Take 2)
11. I’m Not There
12. Please Mrs. Henry
13. Crash on the Levee (Take 1)
14. Crash on the Levee (Take 2)
15. Lo and Behold! (Take 1)
16. Lo and Behold! (Take 2)
17. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Take 1)
18. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Take 2)
19. I Shall be Released (Take 1)
20. I Shall be Released (Take 2)
21. This Wheel’s on Fire
22. Too Much of Nothing (Take 1)
23. Too Much of Nothing (Take 2)

Disc: 4
01. Tears of Rage (Take 1)
02. Tears of Rage (Take 2)
03. Tears of Rage (Take 3)
04. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 1)
05. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 2)
06. Open the Door Homer (Take 1)
07. Open the Door Homer (Take 2)
08. Open the Door Homer (Take 3)
09. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 1)
10. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 2)
11. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 3)
12. All American Boy
13. Sign on the Cross
14. Odds and Ends (Take 1)
15. Odds and Ends (Take 2)
16. Get Your Rocks Off
17. Clothes Line Saga
18. Apple Suckling Tree (Take 1)
19. Apple Suckling Tree (Take 2)
20. Don’t Ya Tell Henry
21. Bourbon Street

Disc: 5
01. Blowin’ in the Wind
02. One Too Many Mornings
03. A Satisfied Mind
04. It Ain’t Me, Babe
05. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 1)
06. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 2)
07. My Woman She’s A-Leavin’
08. Santa-Fe
09. Mary Lou, I Love You Too
10. Dress it up, Better Have it All
11. Minstrel Boy
12. Silent Weekend
13. What’s it Gonna be When it Comes Up
14. 900 Miles from My Home
15. Wildwood Flower
16. One Kind Favor
17. She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain
18. It’s the Flight of the Bumblebee
19. Wild Wolf
20. Goin’ to Acapulco
21. Gonna Get You Now
22. If I Were A Carpenter
23. Confidential
24. All You Have to do is Dream (Take 1)
25. All You Have to do is Dream (Take 2)

Disc: 6
01. 2 Dollars and 99 Cents
02. Jelly Bean
03. Any Time
04. Down by the Station
05. Hallelujah, I’ve Just Been Moved
06. That’s the Breaks
07. Pretty Mary
08. Will the Circle be Unbroken
09. King of France
10. She’s on My Mind Again
11. Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad
12. On a Rainy Afternoon
13. I Can’t Come in with a Broken Heart
14. Next Time on the Highway
15. Northern Claim
16. Love is Only Mine
17. Silhouettes
18. Bring it on Home
19. Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies
20. The Spanish Song (Take 1)
21. The Spanish Song (Take 2)

The Basement Tapes Raw: Bootleg Series Vol. 11 Tracklist:

Disc: 1
01. Open the Door, Homer
02. Odds and Ends
03. Million Dollar Bash
04. One Too Many Mornings
05. I Don’t Hurt Anymore
06. Ain’t No More Cane
07. Crash on the Levee
08. Tears of Rage
09. Dress it up, Better Have it All
10. I’m Not There
11. Johnny Todd
12. Too Much of Nothing
13. Quinn the Eskimo
14. Get Your Rocks Off
15. Santa-Fe
16. Silent Weekend
17. Clothes Line Saga
18. Please, Mrs. Henry
19. I Shall be Released

Disc: 2
01. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
02. Lo and Behold!
03. Minstrel Boy
04. Tiny Montgomery
05. All You Have to do is Dream
06. Goin’ to Acapulco
07. 900 Miles from My Home
08. One for the Road
09. I’m Alright
10. Blowin’ in the Wind
11. Apple Suckling Tree
12. Nothing Was Delivered
13. Folsom Prison Blues
14. This Wheel’s on Fire
15. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
16. Don’t Ya Tell Henry
17. Baby, Won’t You be My Baby
18. Sign on the Cross
19. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

Listen Up! The Band’s “Life Is A Carnival” Live (Previously Unheard)

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As I posted earlier, Capitol/UME will release a The four-CD, one-DVD set of The Band from the last week of 1971 and is entitled ‘Live at the Academy of Music 1971′ (Sept. 17)

During the four live shows at New York’s Academy Of Music, guests with them like Allen Toussaint and Bob Dylan were invited to sit in.

Below is a perviously unheard soundboard mix of “Life Is A Carnival” from the set. Live At The Academy Of Music comes packaged with a 48-page hardbound book featuring previously unseen photos, a reproduction of Rolling Stone’s Rock Of Ages review, an essay by Robbie Robertson, and notes of appreciation from both Mumford & Sons and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. preorder Live at the Academy Of Music 1971 [4CD/1DVD]

The Band’s Dec. 28-31 1971 Performances at New York’s Academy of Music Gets the Box Set Treatment

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The Band Box Set

Ultimate Classic Rock reports that Capitol/UME will release a The four-CD, one-DVD set of The Band live at their peak.

The concerts are from the last week of 1971 and is entitled ‘Live at the Academy of Music 1971′ (Sept. 17)

From Ultimate Classic Rock “The four-CD, one-DVD set gathers 56 performances from the group’s Dec. 28-31 shows at New York City’s Academy of Music. A two-LP version of the concerts was released in 1972 as ‘Rock of Ages.’

The expanded box set will include a mix of all four nights’ shows on two discs (which make up all the songs they played during the four-night stand) and the complete New Year’s Eve concert on the remaining two CDs. Songs include Band classics like ‘The Weight’ and ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.’ The complete track list is below.

In addition to cover songs and reworked versions of their own tracks, ‘Live at the Academy of Music 1971′ spotlights new horn arrangements by Allen Toussaint as well as a surprise guest appearance by Bob Dylan, who joined his old backing band on four songs during the New Year’s Eve show encore.

The DVD includes the remastered first two discs of the box in surround sound, plus two video clips — ‘King Harvest (Has Surely Come)’ and ’The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show’ – from the Dec. 31 concert. The set also includes a 48-page hardbound book with photos and essays.”

The Band’s ‘Live at the Academy of Music 1971′ Track List:


Disc 1
‘The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show’
‘The Shape I’m In’
‘Caledonia Mission’
‘Don’t Do It’
‘Stage Fright’
‘I Shall Be Released’
‘Up on Cripple Creek’
‘This Wheel’s on Fire’
‘Strawberry Wine’
‘King Harvest (Has Surely Come)’
‘Time to Kill’
‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’
‘Across the Great Divide’

Disc 2
‘Life Is a Carnival’
‘Get Up Jake’
‘Rag Mama Rag’
‘Unfaithful Servant’
‘The Weight’
‘Rockin’ Chair’
‘Smoke Signal’
‘The Rumor’
‘The Genetic Method’
‘Chest Fever’
‘(I Don’t Want To) Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes’
‘Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever’
‘Down in the Flood’ (With Bob Dylan)
‘When I Paint My Masterpiece’ (With Bob Dylan)
‘Don’t Ya Tell Henry’ (With Bob Dylan)
‘Like a Rolling Stone’ (With Bob Dylan)

Disc 3
 ‘Up on Cripple Creek’
‘The Shape I’m In’
‘The Rumor’
‘Time To Kill’
‘Rockin’ Chair’
‘This Wheel’s on Fire’
‘Get Up Jake’
‘Smoke Signal’
‘I Shall Be Released’
‘The Weight’
‘Stage Fright’

Disc 4
‘Life Is a Carnival’
‘King Harvest (Has Surely Come)’
‘Caledonia Mission’
‘The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show’
‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’
‘Across the Great Divide’
‘Unfaithful Servant’
‘Don’t Do It’
‘The Genetic Method’
‘Chest Fever’
‘Rag Mama Rag’
‘(I Don’t Want To) Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes’
‘Down in the Flood’ (With Bob Dylan)
‘When I Paint My Masterpiece’ (With Bob Dylan)
‘Don’t Ya Tell Henry’ (With Bob Dylan)
‘Like a Rolling Stone’ (With Bob Dylan)

Record Store Day 2013 – Americana and Roots Music Picks

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rsd2013

It’s that time again twangers. Yes, Record Store Day 2013 is upon us. The day when us music fans can snatch up slabs of limited pressing vinyl from our favorite artists and help local independent records store to not become bygone relics. That would stink.

This year’s RSD2013 releases offer some great selections from the roots and Americana side of the fence. Willie Nelson demos? Yes please! Waylon Jennings and Old 97s collaboration? Oh yeah!

Check the hilarious video from RSD1013 Ambassador Jack White below, where he details the shady doings of the music industry, the Masons and the NBA draft (sort of) and on April 20th head to your local independent record store to pick up one of the limited edition goodies below.

Head to the official RSD2013 site to get a complete list of releases and participating stores.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etxYxIfDhXc

Chet Atkins
Black Jack EP
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: SUNDAZED
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Previously unreleased recordings by this guitar master
Midnight, Boo Boo Stick Beat, Blackjack, Blue Moon of Kentucky

The Avett Brothers/ Randy Travis
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Warner Music Nashville
More Info:
Limited edition split single. Randy Travis covers the Avett Brothers’ “February”, The Avett Brothers covers the Randy Travis song, “Three Wooden Crosses.

The Band
The Last Waltz
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Rhino
More Info:
3 180 Gram LPs, Numbered RSD Edition. All original packaging with Embossing and two foils. All original inner sleeves plus 12-page booklet. Out of print for more than a decade.

Billy Bragg
No One Knows Nothing Anymore / Song of the Iceberg
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Cooking Vinyl

Blitzen Trapper
Blitzen Trapper Deluxe Reissue
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: LidKerCow, LTD
More Info:
Blitzen Trapper’s debut album from 2003 will be available for the first time on vinyl in celebration of it’s 10th Anniversary. The record was remastered by Bruce Barielle and the lacquers were cut by Jeff Powell at Ardent Studios in Memphis, TN. A very limited edition run, the record is pressed on 180g vinyl with a free digital download of the entire record with five previously unheard bonus tracks from the original sessions.

Joe Bussard
Guitar Rag/Screwdriver Slide
DETAILS
Format: 78 rpm 10″
Label: Tompkins Square

Calexico
Spiritoso
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Anti/Epitaph

Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
Rattlin Bones
DETAILS
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill

cookisbell

Elizabeth Cook / Jason Isbell
Tecumseh Valley b/w Pancho & Lefty
DETAILS
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: 31 Tigers
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
“Tecumseh Valley” b/w “Pancho & Lefty”
Studio versions of both artists covering Townes Van Zandt. They originally performed these songs on Late Night with David Letterman

cooley

Mike Cooley
Too Pretty To Work
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Cooley Records
More Info:
Record Store Day 7″ featuring 2 live tracks recorded at shows in 2012.
1 – Self Destructive Zones (3:36)
2 – Get Downtown (3:12)

Bob Dylan
Wigwam
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Columbia
More Info:
A – Wigwam (Unreleased Demo,) B – Thirsty Boots (Previously Unreleased) — Two previously unreleased Bob Dylan recordings from the Self Portrait sessions. Includes a demo version of “Wigwam” and the previously unreleased track “Thirsty Boots.” Taken from the forthcoming release, The Bootleg Series Vol. 10.

Justin Townes Earle
Yuma
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Bloodshot Records
More Info:
Previously released debut EP from Justin Townes Earle, now on vinyl for the first time. 10″ vinyl. Colored vinyl (opaque gold). Limited to 1000 copies, for RSD.
The Ghost of Virginia, You Can’t Leave, Yuma, I Don’t Care, Let the Waters Rise, A Desolate Angels Blues

Alejandro Escovedo/Chris Scruggs
78 rpm 10
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Plowboy Records
More Info:
78 rpm 10″ A/B single release of two covers of Eddy Arnold standards by Alejandro Escovedo (A side) and Chris Scruggs (B side) for upcoming “You Don’t Know Me: Rediscovering Eddy Arnold” album project due in May 2013
a side : “It’s a Sin” by Alejandro Escovedo – B side: “Just A Little Lovin’ (Will Go A Long Way” by Chris Scruggs

Giant Giant Sand
Return to Tucson
DETAILS
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Fire / Cargo
More Info:
limited to 1000 copies. 12″LP featuring 8 remixes by John Parish and Ali chant from tracks that featured on 2012’s ‘Tucson’ LP.
SIDE A: Lost love (John Parish + Ali Chant Remix); Undiscovered Country (John Parish Remix); Wind Blown Waltz (John Parish + Ali Chant Alternative Mix); Thing Like That (Ali Chant Extended Version) SIDE B: Carinito (Ali Chant Alternative Mix); Not The End Of The World (Ali Chant Alternative Version); Hard Morning in a Soft Blur (Chris Schultz Extended Version(; Forever & A Day (John Parish + Ali Chant Alternative Mix)

Golden Gunn (Steve Gunn + Hiss Golden Messenger)
Golden Gunn
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Three Lobed / Thrill Jockey
More Info:
Golden Gunn is a collaboration between Steve Gunn and Hiss Golden Messenger. LP comes with a download code. Only 870 made.

Jackie Greene
Love Is A Shining Catastrophe/Sweet Somewhere Bound 7
DETAILS
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: self-released
More Info:
7″ Vinyl Single in 4/c jacket with 2 “A” Sides and 5 song digital download.

Patty Griffin
Ohio
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: New West
More Info:
This is a single A-side 7” pressed on heavyweight vinyl. The vinyl is black, hand-numbered 1-500, and Patty will sign Side B on 25 of the records, which will be randomly distributed. This song is from her forthcoming album, American Kid, due out 5/14/13. This will come in an all white sleeve with a stamped logo and a stickered UPC.

IMAGINATIONAL ANTHEM VOL. 6 : ORIGINS OF AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GUITAR
Format: Gatefold Vinyl Ltd 1500
Label: Tompkins Square
If American Primitive Guitar begins with John Fahey and the Takoma School, then the actual origins of this sound is found within this collection of fourteen classic solo guitar performances. Recorded between 1923 to 1930, this set is the “Rosetta Stone” of style and repertoire tapped into deeply by Fahey, Basho & Rose, among many others. Sam McGee, Riley Puckett, Bayless Rose, Sylvester Weaver, Lemuel Turner, Frank Hutchison and Davey Miller are the rural artists included in this anthology. Each one of these showcases a particular technique and sensitivity sourced from the earlier 19th century parlor guitar tradition. Several of these sides are reissued for their first time including Sylvester Weaver’s “Guitar Blues” which is the first solo finger picked guitar solo ever recorded. Stunningly remastered and annotated by Christopher King.

Iron and Wine
Next to Paradise/Dirty Ocean
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Warner Bros.
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release

Sarah Jarosz
Live At The Troubadour
Label: Sugar Hill

tift

Tift Merritt
Markings
DETAILS
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Yep Roc
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
4-song 12″ featuring an unreleased track, a live track and two acoustic tracks from Traveling Alone. Covered with a tactile cross-stitched/embroidered record cover.

Mumford & Sons
Live at Bull Moose
DETAILS
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Glassnote
More Info:
“””I Will Wait”” “”Ghosts That We Knew”” “”Where Are You Now”” “”Awake My Soul”” — 3 or 4 songs from their bull moose instore – 10″” version”

WillieNelsonCrazyVinyl.indd

Willie Nelson
Crazy: The Demo Sessions
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill
More Info:
When Willie first got to Nashville he cut some demos for Ray Price and Hal Smith’s publishing company, Pamper Music. Though these cuts were used to pitch songs to artists (including ‘Crazy’ for Patsy Cline) and producers, many weren’t released. These 1960-1966 tracks are raw, real and really good, clearly the work of an artist/songwriter headed for stardom.

Willie Nelson
Someday My Prince Will Come
Label: Legacy

Waylon

Waylon Jennings / Old 97s
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Omnivore Recordings
More Info:
2 x 7″
Two tracks from Old 97s sessions with Waylon Jennings, and two additional Old 97s demo tracks. Cover art by Jon Langford of the Mekons and Waco Brothers, and famed painter of country icons.
Iron Road The Other Shoe, Visiting Hours (1996 demo), Fireflies Take 2 (1996 demo)

Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels-Live 1973 7
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: SIERRA
More Info:
Originally released in 1982 as a bonus 7″ EP to Sierra Records “Live 1973” LP release of Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris with full color sleeve.
Side One: Medley- Bony Moronie, 40 Days, Almost Grown Side Two: Conversations, Doing It in the Bus, Broken EBS Box, Hot Burrito #1

Phosphorescent
Aw Come Aw Wry
Label: Misra Records
More Info:
Previously released title from Phosphorescent, and one of the best-selling, on Misra. This will be the first time that it is available on vinyl.

CHARLIE POOLE & THE HIGHLANDERS : THE COMPLETE PARAMOUNT & BRUNSWICK RECORDINGS, 1929
Vinyl w/ Poster Ltd 1500
From 1926 to 1930 one of the most popular rural string bands on record was Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers. Through their 78 RPM discs and their various performances, Charlie Poole was second only to Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers. Poole’s uniquely syncopated three finger banjo picking style coupled with his Piedmont vocal inflections eventually colored and defined much of what we consider “old-time” music. The classic configuration of banjo, fiddle and guitar with vocals was encouraged by the main label that promoted Poole but he also wanted to record instrumentals featuring twin-fiddle and piano. As renaming his group The Highlanders, Poole was able to actualize this musical vision. This collection contains all of the sides that Poole made with Roy Harvey, Lucy Terry, and twin-fiddlers Lonnie Austin & Odell Smith. Remastered in beautiful sound by Christopher King and with notes written by old-time musician and scholar Kinney Rorrer.

Punch Brothers
“Ahoy!” – 33 1/3 rpm Vinyl EP
Label: Nonesuch Records
For the first time, the EP has been pressed on 10″ vinyl for Record Store Day, and includes songs by Josh Ritter (“Another New World”), Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (“Down Along the Dixie Line”), Punch Brothers (“Squirrel of Possibility”), and Mclusky (“Icarus Smicarus”), along with one traditional tune, arranged by Punch Brothers (“Moonshiner”). Originall yrecorded during the Nashville sessions for their 2012 album Who’s Feeling Young Now?,

Richard Thompson
Salford Sunday
DETAILS
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: New West
More Info:This is a single A-side 7” pressed on heavyweight vinyl. This song is off of the release Electric (2/5/13). The vinyl is black, hand-numbered 1-500. Richard will sign Side B on 25 of the records, which will be distributed randomly

Frank Turner
Recovery
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Interscope

Various Artists
Yep Roc Hearsay / They Call It Rock
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Yep Roc
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
2 Song 12″ on clear vinyl, 24 Yep Roc Artist performing, DVD of recording session, hand made cover

Yonder Mountain String Band
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Vanguard

Elton John and Mumford & Sons Set to Honor Levon Helm at 55th Grammys

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Levon_Helm_at_-life_is_Good_Festival-_in_2011The famed Midnight Ramble will roll into L.A. on Sunday night as Elton John** and Mumford & Sons appear on the Grammy stage to lead a tribute to the late music great Levon Helm, The Associated Press reports.

As part of the awards show’s in memorial tribute, John and Mumford & Sons will be joined by T Bone Burnett, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, Zac Brown and Americana Album of the Year winner Mavis Staples for a special performance of the Band’s “The Weight.

“Can you think of a song that fits (more)?” said Ken Ehrlich, producer of the Grammy Awards. “Philosophically it fits the moment.”

The Band’s 1968 debut, “Music From Big Pink,” and its follow-up, “The Band,” remain landmark albums and count as the vanguards for the Americana movement. Songs such as “The Weight” and “Cripple Creek” have become rock standards. Early on, The Band backed Bob Dylan on his sensational and controversial electric tours of 1965-66 and collaborated with him on the legendary “The Basement Tapes.”

Elton John has a long history with Helm and counted him as a close friend. John and his writing partner Bernie Taupin, wrote the song “Levon”, who’s title character was inspired by The Band’s co-founder, drummer, and singer. The Band was apparently Elton John’s and Taupin’s favorite group at the time. Their sound inspired John and Taupin to create the albums Tumbleweed Connection and Honky Château.

Elton John and his civil partner, David Furnish, named their son “Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John.”

Helm, singer and drummer for The Band, died on April 19th in New York of throat cancer. He was 71. Mumford & Sons are up for four awards at this Sunday’s Grammys, including Album of the Year for Babel. Alabama Shakes are up for two awards, including Best New Artist. Zac Brown Band is up for Best Country album for Uncaged.

Are these the performers I would have chosen for a Helm tribute? Probably not. But the sentiment is genuine and I’m sure that the performances will be heartfelt.

Tune in to the 55th Grammys airing this Sunday on CBS.

‘Love for Levon,’ Tribute to Levon Helm at Izod Center [VIDEOS]

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After attending hundreds of concerts there are very few shows occurring  these days that I wish I had attended. This is one of them.

Gregg Allman, Jakob Dylan, Bruce Hornsby, Mavis Staples, John Prine, Joan Osborne, John Hiatt, Jorma Kaukonen,  Roger Waters, Ray La Montagne and other Rock and Americana music greats all paid tribute to the great Levon Helm who passed away last April.  The performers were backed by the tremendous Levon Helm Band featuring Amy Helm and now led by the guitarist and fiddler Larry Campbell.  The concert will eventually be shown on AXS TV and released as a DVD.

Here are some of the best videos I could find from this once in a lifetime event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkUCu3Si5OI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUFQeZDy3eQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dBJpRTSuLg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfRGU9aMjWc