My response to: Finally, A Year-End List That Everyone Can Agree On…And Everyone Will Agree It Eats Shit

My way-too-in-depth response to a post on Hidden Track.

Sure, what I'm about to write lacks sophistication, but so too does the tale told by the lists in question.

The best-selling albums of the year, according to Apple:

1. Maroon 5 - Didn't hear it. Remembered that they opened for RANA at Wetlands once. Maroon 5's bass player cried that night. (NOT writer's embellishment.) Metzger punched him in the face. (Writer's embellishment.)

2. Amy Winehouse - Heard it, like it, like Sharon Jones better. Kinda bummed that a google image search of "coke whore" doesn't bring Amy up until page 3. We're all pulling for you Amy... You can do it!

3. Kanye West - Like him, didn't hear it. Probably won't try to hear it, in silent tribute to Evel Kinevel.

4. Daughtry - Who? I checked out their website and saw they played the Landmark Theater in Syracuse last - sure, a beautiful venue, but still, in Syracuse. As a Salt City native, I refuse to believe they're worth a shit. (Carrier Dome artists (Prince, GD, Stones & Springsteen among them,) are, of course, exempted from that opinion. Also, Central New York, Syracuse & especially Utica, is Phish Country, so they're exempt too, as are every band that I've worked for that played in Syracuse.

5. Colbie Caillat - Who x 2? One wasted trip to an unknown artist's website is enough.

6. Linkin Park - Didn't hear it. They have a DJ right? No offense to the DJ's I love & respect, but I gotta quote Supagroup: "You guys gotta DJ right? That's kinda like being good at the toaster. You know what? You... and your band... you FUCKIN' suck!"

7. Various Artists High School Musical - Didn't hear it. No further comment.

8. Timbaland - Didn't hear it. I really like JT though. Does that mean I'm still down?

9. John Mayer - Like him, didn't hear it. Little known fact [and the perfect tie in to my blog's stated purpose]: John Mayer LOVES Charlie Hunter. Remember when CH started playing Strat? Mayer sent him that Strat, for ser. I keep telling Charlie, "you should co-write some tunes with Mayer" But it hasn't happened yet. Tragic, really. I really think they'd come up with some tight shit. But what do I know?

10. Various Artists Hairspray - Didn't hear it. (No further comment.)


The best-selling songs of the year, according to Apple:

1. Fergie - “Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal)” - Didn't hear it. But I'm not gonna hate. Everyone's all "butter face" (talk about lack of sophistication!) with Fergie - lighten up! I gotta say, I've hung with those guys and I know a few folks that have worked with them. Sure they got huge, but the egos are mostly in check. They're nice people, and as an employee of bands, that means something to me. Of course, this one time, their guitarist pretended to be another guitarist (also not writer's embellishment) to get laid, but hey...

2. Gwen Stefani - “The Sweet Escape” - Really like her, didn't hear it. Will try to seek it out, and with these lists, that says it all.

3. Plain White T’s - “Hey There Delilah” - Didn't hear it. Also: Who x 3?

4. Avril Lavigne - “Girlfriend” - Didn't hear it. This one time, RANA opened for Avril and since they were RANA, they were setting up their own gear. All the teenage girls up front started chanting "TAKE YOUR SHIRT OFF" to Ryan (I think) and once he did, they all went crazy. To paraphrase Steve Earl "I'll stand on Jimmy Page's coffee table in my boots, and tell him to his face that RANA is as ROCK N ROLL as it gets. And if Angus Young has a coffee table, I'll tell him the same fucking thing."

5. Fergie - “Glamorous” - Didn't hear it. See above.

6. Kanye West - “Stronger” - Didn't hear it. See further above. Viva Evel!!!

7. Maroon 5 - “Makes Me Wonder” - Didn't hear it. Did I ever tell you the story about the time that Metzger kicked their bass player's ass?

8. Akon - “Don’t Matter” - Didn't hear it. Also, who x 4?

9. Timbaland (featuring Keri Hilson & D.O.E.) - “The Way I Are” - Didn't hear it. Still like JT, though.

10. Shop Boyz - “Party Like a Rock Star” - Did the Pet Shop Boys shorten their name? Didn't hear it.

So what have we learned?
1. I'm completely out of touch with the taste of the American music buying public. (Another life goal accomplished.)
2. The music industry has finally eaten itself.
3. The model, as they have sought to preserve it, is dead. (Long live Radiohead.)
4. Maroon 5 is probably rich, but their bass player is a pussy and anyone from RANA can still kick all their asses.

I can live with that.

SOTW

Sitting in for Neddy....

Monday:
* Bouncing Souls @ Cha Cha's (Coney Island)
Les Paul @ Iridium Jazz Club
New Pornographers @ Bowery Ballroom
Permanent Me / Bedlight For Blue Eyes @ Knitting Factory


Tuesday:
Agent Double E @ Lion's Den
* Allman Brothers Band @ Jones Beach (Wantagh, LI)
Burnt Sugar / Trio S @ Zebulon
Dave Holland Sextet @ Blue Note
General Miggs / The Section Quartet @ Mercury Lounge
Jose Gonzalez @ Spiegeltent
Lucy Gallant @ Bitter End
Mocean Worker @ Nublu
Piebald / The Format / Reuben's Accomplice/Steel Train @ Webster Hall
Riverboat Gamblers / Valient Thorr @ Knitting Factory
* The Comas, Sam Champion @ Luna Lounge (Brooklyn)

Wednesday:
Allman Brothers Band @ PNC Bank Arts Center (Holmdel, NJ)
Dappled Cities / Via Audio @ Union Hall
Dave Holland Sextet @ Blue Note
Gabriella Caspi @ Rose Live Music
* Garage A Benevento @ Lion’s Den
Hopewell et al @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
Indigo Girls @ Planting Fields Arboretum (Oyster Bay, LI)
Josh Ritter @ The Box
Meta And The Cornerstones @ Lava Gina
Nellie McKay @ Joe's Pub
Pharoah Daughter / Pitom @ Zebulon
Rebirth Brass Band @ Highline Ballroom
* Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars @ BB King’s
The Aquabats @ Club Atlantis, Boardwalk @ Stillwell Ave (Coney Island)

Thursday:
* Codetalkers @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise Aboard the Half Moon
Dave Holland Sextet @ Blue Note
Death Of Fashion / Exitmusic / NYC Smoke @ Southpaw
Herbie Hancock @ Planting Fields Arboretum (Oyster Bay, LI)
Hopewell / Adam Franklin @ Cakeshop
Martin Sexton @ Rockin' the River Cruise
Monogold @ Galapagos Art Space
The Real Live Show @ Nublu
The Aquabats / MC Lars @ BB King Blues Club

Friday:
Baye Kouyate Et Les Tougaranke @ Zebulon
Beach House / The Papercuts / Tiny Vipers @ Union Hall
Camera Obscura @ South Street Seaport
Dave Holland Sextet @ Blue Note
Kind Monitor / Double Fantasy @ Pete's Candy Store
Lee "Scratch" Perry @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise
Los Straightjackets / Big Sandy @ Southpaw
Meta And The Cornerstones @ Knitting Factory
Michael Wolff @ Knickerbocker
Murphy's Law / Electric Frankenstein @ Luna Lounge
Squirrel Nut Zippers @ Highline Ballroom
* Sound of Urchin @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise Aboard the Half Moon
White Rabbits @ Sound Fix:

Saturday:
Asiko / Sublimator @ Zebulon
Dave Holland Sextet @ Blue Note
DJ Dara / Mousky @ Club Midway
DJ Liondub @ Cafe Noir: 2-6 pm
DJ Rekha @ Governors Island (located in Manhattan Harbor)
Kumabear @ The Tank
Laws Of Gravity / Deep In Vein @ Europa
Michael Wolff @ Knickerbocker
Reggae Carifest / Bounty Killer / Yellow Man / Mavado @ Randall's Island
* Sound of Urchin / Tragedy / Girls Girls Girls @ Cha Cha’s (Coney Island)
The Bicycats / Kelli Rae Powell / Pagoda @ Pete's Candy Store
The Mugs / Condo @ Union Hall
The Octagon / Nice Jenkins / Goodnight Gunfight @ Pianos
The Randy Bandits @ Banjo Jim’s

Sunday:
25 Ta Life / Memories Past / Caught In A Trap @ Club Atlantis (Coney Island)
AC Newman, Feist, Jim James et al @ Beacon Theater (benefit)
Beres Hammond / Luciano / Richie Spice / Morgan Heritage @ The Aviator, Floyd Bennet Field
* Clutch @ The Crazy Donkey (Farmingdale, LI)
Dave Holland Sextet @ Blue Note
FREE Fiery Furnaces @ Socrates Sculpture Park (Queens)
La Strada @ Zebulon
O'Death @ Spiegeltent
Talib Kweli / Mos Def / Dead Prez / DJ Evil Dee @ Nokia Theatre

* Pete’s Picks

Ryan Adams + Neal Casal = Better Ryan Adams

This entry started out as a post on a message board that people actually read. However, as I composed my response, I realized that I wanted to address a topic that I held much closer to my heart than a shoot-from-the-hip response to a message board could convey. That message board's loss becomes your gain dear reader...

I spent some time on the road with Neal Casel years ago when he was playing with Shannon McNally. In short, my experience identifies him as a super individual and top notch musician; a player always at his best when he was most tired FWIW (which is a trait that I, though experience, associate with most incredible musical talents). It makes me very happy to see the role he's playing on stage and on record with Ryan Adams. Seems like Mr. Adams is pulling it all together on Easy Tiger, good for him. Looks like I'm gonna need to buy that one too.

Neal's quote re: playing on the record: "i mean really, after all these fuckin' years, to be on a top 10 record, it's like some insane cosmic joke. whatever, my mom is stoked, she told all the ladies at the bingo hall..." That kinda sums it all up, in the most perfect way possible. When we worked together, Neal always struck me a someone who could walk a seemingly impossible line of balance. Equally the disarming, self-effacing charmer that could utter the aforementioned quote with complete believability, Neal also, as I grew to know him well, became the rock star ideal that any of us in music, whether musician, fan, employee or groupie, come to idealize, maybe even idolize. He was the ring leader of a trio of leaders, equal parts friend, talent, counselor, teacher, student, trouble-maker & mediator. That time becomes even more amazing as I look back, because (bassist) Jeff Hill and (drummer) Dan Fadel also moved smoothly and authoritatively between those roles. As I became more experienced as a tour manager, I came to understand that such a band was an anomaly at best, and, in truth, a miracle. Surrounded by those guys and looking out for their needs evolved into much less of a job and much more of an honor. Each man taught me so much, shaped me more than they may ever know, and left me spoiled in a way that even the best of my subsequent positions struggles to match.

A favorite story from the road: When we toured with Shannon, we travelled with a record player on the bus, listening to the perfect analog captures of some amazing artists: Stevie, The Band, The Stones, ZZ Top, The Meters. Shannon's band, Neal among them, displayed the deepest reverence for real, well-crafted, quality music that I've ever come across. That attitude continues to exist as one I respect and learn from to this day. I, myself, went back far enough with The Band, at least nearly as far back as someone who just started to understand the nuances of 6 years of age around Thanksgiving '76 and The Last Waltz could go. Robbie left in '76, Richard died in '81, but I still saw Rick, Garth & Levon from the front row at SPAC in '93 (a story for another entry). I still ran listening to the great live version of "Get Up, Jake" from Rock of Ages in college.

I knew them well, or so I thought, until I spent time with Neal and Jeff Hill and Dan Fadel. Those records they played, and more importantly, the respect and love that they approached those records with, opened my ears and eyes to something I didn't realize existed. Shannon used to end many of her shows with a dedication to Levon Helm, singing "When I Paint My Masterpiece" in his honor, because at the time, Levon's throat cancer prevented him from singing anything. Those moments, that respect, that willingness to listen and learn and study to this day impress me about Shannon and her band. They took me to see the Last Waltz on the big screen in LA. They shaped my passing knowledge of Tom Waits into my current passion. They schooled me with ZZ Top's Tres Hombres, years before the talented Charlie Hunter ever allowed Billy Gibbons' raunch to creep into his bag of tricks. I learned about Jamerson and Motown's Funk Brothers and the legacy of Papa Funk and the Meters. They gave me Graham Parsons. (Check this low quality video of Neal & Ryan covering Hickory Wind.)



Even as I absorbed this flood of knowledge and appreciation, my own foundations grew stronger. I already loved Garcia's tone, but Neal taught me about the role played by Jerry's Gibson SG in shaping it. I knew of musicians' devotion to vintage instruments, but Jeff Hill handed me the 1st pre CBS Fender bass I ever touched. I learned enough about vintage drums from Dan Fadel to fight production managers over the preposterous statement that "Our backline DWs sound as good as his '67 Ludwigs". Were it not for Dan, I'd never know about the sweet sounds of Rogers kits, or what the hell a "Gretsch Round Badge" was. Finally, and its a fact that's definitely less pertinent to my (very few) readers, but they taught me the difference between thrift store fare, and vintage clothing. That might not strike you as important at all, until you realize that so many of my (and your) favorite bands, from local heros Sam Champion, to regional darlings The Slip and Apollo Sunshine, to national powerhouses such as the White Stripes / Rancantours, Wilco, Bright Eyes & Broken Social Scene draw their wardrobes from this same pool. To me, that fact alone simply illustrates a homage to the brilliance that preceded them. For all of those musicians working in the ream of real music, attempting to survive on their devotion to that art, that subtle difference plays a significant role in the vibe they want to create.

You can call it respect for the past, or maybe more optimistically, hope for the future. My point remains: without the time I spent with Jeff, Dan and Neal, I don't know where I would have found the passion, respect, knowledge, understanding and devotion I now hold for the incredible art, vision, expression and vibe that they helped introduce to me. For that fact alone, and for the friendships that continue to blossom whenever I get lucky enough to again cross paths with those 3, I remain eternally grateful. BTW, if such knowledge, respect and willingness to learn sounds like something that appeals to you, do yourself a favor and check out their band. If we lived in a different time (and its sad, at least musically, that we don't), you might dream about spending a Thanksgiving with them as they presented their own version of the Last Waltz, not as a final bow, but as a celebration of all that this writer, and I know many of you, love.

Its people like this that help me stay gold.

John Morgan Kimock Rules Face

So I'm finally off the road after 5 weeks with Greyboy Allstars, a tour that was bisected by my 7th straight appearance at Jazz Fest. As such, I've got a second to breath and take a vacation (to Sasquatch and Hawaii!!!) before I jump back into to my next gig, Bonnaroo.

Scott Bernstein's piece over on Hidden Track about second generation rockers reminded me of this great John Morgan Kimock story from Jam Cruise earlier this year.

The Greyboys were my main gig on the boat, but Karl Denson also served as host of a super jam, and unlike most of the funk themed cluster fucks that pass for epic these days, Karl actually put some thought into this performance. Like the true professional he is, he worked on this slot, and I was right there at his side. He wrote charts, and I downloaded & printed lyrics. He made CDs and I tracked down the artists involved to distribute. He called meetings, and I made sure everyone made it on time. By the time we hit the stage post GBA on Saturday, I was convinced this would be no sad rehash of Chameleon and Cissy Strut. The song selection was brilliant, the musicians were prepared, (to the point that some had even taken the CDs to their rooms and shedded the tunes for hrs before the performance) and the line ups solidified. I mean we're looking at Stanton Moore, Raymond Webber & Yonrico Scott on drums, George Porter, Jr., & Tony Hall on Bass, Kraz, Fuzz & Ian Neville on Guitars, Ivan Neville and Robert Walter on Keys, Nick Daniels, Allison Lewis, Ivan, and Karl on Vocals, Mike D on Vibes and Percussion, The Dozen Horns (Kevin, ET & Roger) and the YMBFBBand Horns, etc, etc. It's pretty sick on paper, even if they did rehash Chameleon & Cissy Strut.

But the songs were as good. Obscure Roy Ayers tracks, Sly & The Family Stone classics and on and on. The set gets going and it's epic for real, straight out the gate. I'm helping sub people in and out, KD's got audience members holding up the charts, everything's proceeding according to plan.

And then, my favorite moment unfolds behind the musicians: John Morgan comes up on stage and he wants to play. Raymond, Stanton and 'Rico aren't convinced by the skinny 17 year old. He finally takes the stage left kit for the Roy Ayers song Everybody Loves the Sunshine. Raymond gives John some good natured shit, then finally pointedly asks, "Do you know the tune?" When John responds negatively, Stanton, 'Rico and Raymond kick him off the kit. Raymond and Stanton handle the cover, and Mike D kills the vibes solo adding another level to the set's success.

Kimock, refusing to be denied, continues to perp the sit in. The musicians in question finally relent, and he retakes drum throne stage left. Ring the bell, school's in session. I wish I could remember the tune, maybe Sly's Simple Song, but it doesn't even matter. Bottom line, it's John Morgan & Stanton on drums, immediately locked and laying down the groove. Raymond and 'Rico are standing behind John, flippin' out at his talent. Tony Hall turns around to see who's responsible for the nastiness, sees the kid, blinks and doubles his intensity. Shit's now cooking. I've been watching John play all week, and I knew his ability well. Even I must admit though that my prior knowledge didn't quite prepare me for the ease with which he took command.

And that my friends is the story of how John Morgan Kimock taught the old guard that he too, can rule your face.


The Kid's Gold:



Stay Gold Yourselves.

magic

I'm not sure exactly what's at work today, but there's something about it. Sometimes its snow in May, sometimes it makes me makeithappen77, sometimes its conversations on the beach overlooking the ocean about home buying and babies, sometimes its sitting on the bus playing Cornell, and tonight it was almost all of the above. Tonight it was hearing that someone somewhere thought Mike Andrews and Trey were the best possible replacements for Garcia. Tonight it was Karl dedicating a spacey, effects laden Check Out Your Mind "On the 30th anniversary...(to) the Grateful Dead, the masters of the freak out."

Sure, Cornell suffers under the microscope of over analyzing. But my friend Dros, Greyboy's FOH engineer, just postulated the perfect rebuttal to the nay sayers. As an engineer, he realizes, as I do, that the magic in music blooms from the fingers of the musicians in question. The haters cite the perfect mix of the 5.8.77 Betty Board as the reason behind it's popularity. But, as live sound engineers, we realize that we can only work with what the band provides. The magic of Barton Hall comes straight from the fingers and hands and talent of the musicians. The reason that so many revere the show is simply because the show should be revered by so many. It's perfection arises from it's perfection.

Really it doesn't matter to me. What I learned before and relearned again today is that May 8th brings magic. Happy 30th Boys.

Way to Stay Gold.

Finally off to NOLA

I'm about to head to New Orleans, recovering nicely from yesterday's transportation debacle. I just had to throw this up before I head, in honor of the show I missed last Sunday.



I'll be in touch.

Stay Gold.

Best Leaf of Fall EVER!!!!

So back in December, during Hampton Comes Unglued's unprecedented Six Shows in One Day run, we ended up opening (or was it closing?) for Chris Harford and the Band of Changes at the World Cafe in Philly. Culled from the BOC set, I give you the best Leaf of Fall ever, featuring a multiple angle video recording of Chris' beautiful song with the extra added bonus of Deaner & Metzger shredding. Epic....



It may sound morbid, but to be honest, I find this song so powerful that it makes me better understand the concept of my own death. Thank you, Chris, Eric, Aaron, Mickey, Scott & Dave. And thanks also to the people that put this together, including Dazzle...

Stay Gold.