Warren Haynes & Gov’t Mule -Asheville XMas Jam (2006)

Warren Haynes (born April 6, 1960) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov’t Mule.

Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey Betts Band. Haynes also is known for his associations with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, including touring with Phil Lesh and Friends and the Dead.

In addition, Haynes founded and manages Evil Teen Records.

Gov’t Mule (pronounced “Government Mule”) is an American Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 as a side project of the Allman Brothers Band by guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody. Fans often refer to Gov’t Mule simply as Mule.

The band released their debut album, Gov’t Mule, in 1995, and have since released an additional nine studio albums, plus numerous EPs and live releases. Gov’t Mule has become a staple act at music festivals across North America, with both its members and frequent guests from other notable bands adding various funk and blues rock elements to the band’s sound. (wikipedia)

Starting in 1988, Haynes put together an annual charity benefit show, inviting musicians originally from his home town of Asheville who were home for Christmas, the only time of year they would all be in town at the same time. The first show, held at the 45 Cherry club in Asheville on December 29, 1988, was dubbed “The Christmas Jam: Musician’s X-Mas Reunion.” Some of the artists at the first Christmas Jam were Warren Haynes, Mike Barnes, Matt Sluder, The Crystal Zoo, The Stripp Band, Ronnie Burgin and the McBad Brothers Band.

In the initial years the proceeds from the concert were donated to various charities but eventually the organizers decided to focus on Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit that constructs and preserves homes; advocates for fair and just housing policies; and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. In tribute to his financial support of Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, a Habitat neighborhood in Buncombe County, North Carolina, has a street named after Haynes, and another subdivision was named in honor of Warren and Stefanie Hayne’s son. In 2002, Haynes was presented with the key to the city by Asheville mayor Charles Worley. In 2003, Worley proclaimed December 18 as “Warren Haynes Day” in Asheville.

The event has continued to grow every year and is now dubbed “Warren Haynes Presents: The Christmas Jam.” Due to increasing audience demand, the show was eventually moved to the Asheville Civic Center. In 2008, for its twentieth anniversary, “The Christmas Jam” consisted of two nights of music; including “The Christmas Jam By Day,” a series of events including daytime concerts, movie screenings, and art, photo, and poster exhibits taking place in downtown Asheville on the days leading up to the show. The event reverted to one night in 2009, but retained “The Christmas Jam By Day,” and included the new “Christmas Comedy Jam.” The same format was repeated in 2010.

And here´s Gob´t Mule gig from 2006:

Warren Haynes & Gov’t Mule live broadcast from The Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina for the Christmas Pre-Jam on 12/15/2006. This live radio broadcast preceded the next day’s 18th Annual Christmas Jam at the Asheville Civic Center, a benefit for Habitat For Humanity.

And … another pretty good jam concert … I think Gov’t Mule are the best jam band in the world

Recorded live at The Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, Decmber 15, 2006

Personnel:
Matt Abts (drums, percussion)
Warren Haynes (guitar, vocals)
Andy Hess (bass)
Danny Louis (keyboards)
+
Mike Barnes (guitar on 10.)
Randall Bramlett (saxophone on 09. +10.)
Henry Butler (keyboards on 10.)
Robert Kearns (bass on 10.)
Branford Marsalis (saxophone on 08.)
Ivan Neville (keyboards on 10.)
Mickey Raphael (harmonica on 03. + 10.)
Dave Schools (bass on 09.)
Kenny Vaughn (guitar on 10.)

Tracklist:

Warren Haynes Set:
01 WNCW . Intro 0.59
02. A Million Miles From Yesterday (Haynes) 4.13
03. Ballerina (Morrison) 6.19
04. Christmas music and intro for Gov’t Mule 1.23

Gov’t Mule Set:
05. Time To Confess (Haynes) 7.36
06. Three String George (Haynes) 6.14
07. Child Of The Earth (Haynes) 6.19
08. Devil Likes It Slow (Haynes) 12.38
09. Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys (Winwood/Capaldi) 15.55
10. I Shall Be Released (Dylan) 12.27

*
**

More from Gov’t Mule:

The official website:

The Keith Reid Project – In My Head (2019)

Keith Stuart Brian Reid (19 October 1946 – 23 March 2023) was an English lyricist and songwriter who wrote the lyrics of every song released by Procol Harum that was not previously recorded by someone else, with the exception of the songs on their 2017 album Novum.

Reid was born on 19 October 1946. He grew up in London and was Jewish, the son of a Holocaust survivor. He left school at an early age to pursue a songwriting career. He met Gary Brooker, lead singer with Procol Harum, with whom he co-wrote most of the band’s songs (some music was written by organist Matthew Fisher and by guitarist Robin Trower), in 1966.

They began collaborating, and their composition “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, Procol Harum’s first single, was released in 1967. It reached the top of the UK Singles Chart and sold over six million copies worldwide. Keith Reid was an official member of Procol Harum and attended all their recording sessions and most of their concert performances, despite having no performance role in the band. Reid continued to write lyrics for the band until they disbanded in 1977. Reid has said that the dark tone of his lyric writing derives from his familial experience of the Holocaust.

Reid also wrote the lyrics for two songs by the French singer Michel Polnareff in 1966 (“You’ll Be On My Mind” and “Time Will Tell”), and was co-writer for the John Farnham hit “You’re the Voice” (1986).

Reid moved to New York and founded a management company in 1986. He reunited with Brooker and Procol Harum for the albums The Prodigal Stranger (1991) and The Well’s on Fire (2003).

In August 2008, a new album, The Common Thread, was issued under The Keith Reid Project banner. Reid wrote the lyrics for the songs, which were performed by a variety of musicians, including Southside Johnny, Chris Thompson, John Waite and Michael Saxell. The album was produced by Keith Reid and Matt Noble.

A new album from the Keith Reid Project, In My Head, was released in December 2018.[6]

Reid died from cancer on 23 March 2023, at the age of 76. (wikipedia)

And here´s his second album with the Keith Reid Project:

Stumbled across this, and what an unexpected gem it turned out to be. It’s best listened to late in the evening, when guards are down and sudden jolts of tempo are not welcome. Every song is a story well told. I haven’t been this drawn in by a collection of music so quickly in quite some time.

The KRP Project used to be called The Keith Reid Project. Reid wrote all the lyrics for Procol Harum, except the most recent release. A few years ago, I bought the first Keith Reid Project, played it, shrugged and can’t remember anything about it. When Amazon threw up The KRP as a possible item of interest, I clicked, sampled the track “This Space is Vacant”, jumped over to YouTube, listened to the entire track and I ordered the CD.

Maya Saxell sings “This Space is Vacant”. I had never heard her before; she has a wounded, exhausted voice I find enchanting. It is the perfect voice to sing Keith Reid’s story about a homeless man, musically carried by the world’s saddest piano. Saxell sings lead on three other songs and they are all lifted by that emotive voice.

Reid’s excellent lyrics are carried by a number of other vocalists, including John Waite on “All I Need to Know”, one of the best love songs I’ve heard in quite a while. Everyone on this really shines. The music is strong and well crafted. The lyrics are absorbing and frequently funny, topics ranging from the horror of growing old, to how the world blows, to the Matthew Fisher lawsuit over “A Whiter Shade of Pale” credit. That’s well-rounded. This is smart music.

Obviously, I’m smitten with this thing. It’s cool when an album connects with you. If you’ve read this far, you should listen this album. (King Tito of Maine)

A wonderful album to say goodbye to Keith Reid … RIP !

Personnel:
Steve Booker (vocals on 03. + 10. all instruments on 10.)
Doug Kistner (keyboards on 08.)
Jon Korba (keyboards on 02., 03.)
Anthony Krizan (guitar, bass, drum programming, vocals on 02.. guitar, drums on 03., guitar on 08.)
Chris Merola (vocals on 06.)
Matt Noble (all instruments on 05. + 06.)
Keith Reid (supporting vocals on 02.)
Maya Saxell (vocals on 01., 04., 07. + 09.)
Rob Wasserman (guitar on 04.)
John Waite (vocals on 08.)
Anders Widmark (piano on 01., 07. + 09.)
Jeff Young (vocals on 05.)

Tracklist:
01. This Space Is Vacant (Widmark) 4.12
02. In My Head (Krizan) 3.57
03. Thieves Road  (Booker) 4.46
04. Ten More Shows (Wasserman) 3.17
05. The Bank Of Worry (Noble) 3.05
06. The Trial Of The Century (Noble) 3.34
07. Back From The Brink (Widmark) 3.48
08. All I Need To Know (Krizan/Waite) 5.06
09. Dance With Me (Widmark) 4.05
10. House Of Cards (Booker) 4.44

All lyrics by Keith Reid

*
**

Tom Glazer – A New Treasury Of Folk Songs (1961 – 1971)

Thomas Zachariah Glazer (September 2, 1914 – February 21, 2003) was an American folk singer and songwriter known primarily as a composer of ballads, including: “Because All Men Are Brothers”, recorded by The Weavers and Peter, Paul and Mary, “Talking Inflation Blues”, recorded by Bob Dylan, “The Ballad of FDR” and “A Dollar Ain’t A Dollar Anymore”. He wrote the lyrics to the songs “Melody of Love” (1954), and “Skokian” (1954).

Thomas Zachariah Glazer was born in Philadelphia on September 2, 1914, to Russian émigré parents from Minsk. His father, a carpenter in a shipyard, died during the 1918 flu pandemic, and Glazer was brought up by a series of relatives before being placed in the Hebrew Orphan Home in Philadelphia with his two brothers; his younger brother Sidney Glazier became a producer, most notably of Mel Brooks’s The Producers. Their father’s record collection influenced Glazer musically, and at school he learned to play the tuba, guitar and bass. At 17, he hitchhiked to New York, where he took night courses to complete his education while working at Macy’s during the day. He subsequently attended City College of New York for three years. He is of Jewish descent.

Glazer moved to Washington, D.C. and began work at the Library of Congress.[3] There he met Alan Lomax who worked for cataloguing American folk songs, and who was a great influence. Glazer began performing as an amateur and was invited by Eleanor Roosevelt to perform at the White House for soldiers working there as guards. He made a successful professional début at The Town Hall, New York City, in January 1943 during a blizzard, and in 1945 had a radio show Tom Glazer’s Ballad Box. His songs of the period, such as “A Dollar Ain’t a Dollar Anymore”, “Our Fight is Yours”, “When the Country is Broke”, and “Talking Inflation Blues” took strong social stands. Glazer’s songs were recorded by Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, Perry Como and Frank Sinatra. He was part of the strong folk music scene in New York in the 1940s, and with Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Josh White helped prepare for the commercially successful folk revival of the 1960s. “He wasn’t fancy,” Seeger reported after his death “He was just straightforward. He had a good sense of humor.”

Glazer was married to Miriam Reed Eisenberg with whom he had two sons. The marriage ended in divorce in 1974.

Glazer recorded a number of children’s records in the late 1940s and early 1950s with Young People’s Records, Inc. In the 1960s he hosted a weekly children’s show on WQXR radio in New York. (wikipedia)

And here´s one of his books:

A new treasury of folk songs by Tom Glazer. The book was originally published in paperback in 1961.

Compiled from the best known sources by Tom Glazer, well-known folk musician and singer.
With special easy guitar accompaniments.

The original edition from 1961:

This comprehensive book contains a wide-ranging selection of favourite songs from many countries and eras. Work songs, dungeon songs, love songs, the sea, western ways – all chosen for consistent quality as well as variety.

Special addition – The Beginner Folk Guitarist. Tom Glazer invented a new, amazingly easy way to learn to play guitar. Teach yourself the basic “open-string” chords and 2 beat, 3 beat and free style rhythms.

I find it very interesting that many of these old songs are still very popular today … Folk songs of this kind are simply immortal !

I heard this song for the first time from The Spencer Davis Group:

I heard this song for the first time from Richie Havens (“Woodstock”):

*
**

Front+backcover:

A short biography from the Billboard Magazine (1963):

Linkin Park – Meteora (2003)

Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band’s current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer Rob Bourdon, all of whom are founding members. Vocalists Mark Wakefield and Chester Bennington are former members of the band.

Categorized as alternative rock, Linkin Park’s earlier music spanned a fusion of heavy metal and hip hop, while their later music features more electronica and pop elements.

Formed in 1996, Linkin Park rose to international fame with their debut studio album, Hybrid Theory (2000), which became certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Released during the peak of the nu metal scene, the album’s singles’ heavy airplay on MTV led the singles “One Step Closer”, “Crawling” and “In the End” all to chart highly on the US Mainstream Rock chart. The lattermost also crossed over to the nation’s Billboard Hot 100. Their second album, Meteora (2003), continued the band’s success. The band explored experimental sounds on their third album, Minutes to Midnight (2007).[ By the end of the decade, Linkin Park was among the most successful and popular rock acts.

The band continued to explore a wider variation of musical types on their fourth album, A Thousand Suns (2010), layering their music with more electronic sounds. The band’s fifth album, Living Things (2012), combined musical elements from all of their previous records. Their sixth album, The Hunting Party (2014), returned to a heavier rock sound, and their seventh album, One More Light (2017), was a substantially more pop-oriented record. Linkin Park went on a hiatus when longtime lead vocalist Bennington died in July 2017. In April 2022, Shinoda revealed the band was neither working on new music nor planning on touring for the foreseeable future. (wikipedia)

Meteora is the second studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on March 25, 2003, through Warner Bros. Records, following Reanimation, a collaboration album which featured remixes of songs included on their 2000 debut studio album Hybrid Theory. The album was produced by the band alongside Don Gilmore. The title Meteora is taken from the Greek Orthodox monasteries originally bearing the name. Meteora has a similar sound to Hybrid Theory, as described by critics, and the album took almost a year to be recorded. It is the first Linkin Park studio album to feature bassist Dave Farrell after he rejoined the band in 2000 following his temporary touring with other bands.

Meteora debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling over 810,000 copies in its first week.[2] Linkin Park released singles from Meteora for over a year, including “Somewhere I Belong”, “Faint”, “Numb”, “From the Inside”, and “Breaking the Habit”. “Lying from You” was released in March 2004 as a promotional single. Meteora received generally positive reviews, although some critics felt the album’s style was too similar to its predecessor.

Meteora has sold around 16 million copies worldwide, making it the 8th best-selling album of the 21st century. It is certified 7× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

It was ranked number 36 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums of the 2000s.[3] Some songs from the album were remixed with some of Jay-Z’s songs for the EP Collision Course (2004). “Session” was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 46th Grammy Awards.

In February 2023, it was announced that the band would release a 20th anniversary edition of Meteora on April 7, 2023. Alongside this, they released a never before released demo titled “Lost” as the lead single of the reissue. (wikipedia)

Perhaps if the cut-‘n’-paste remix record Reanimation hadn’t appeared as a stopgap measure in the summer of 2002, Linkin Park’s second record, Meteora, would merely have been seen as a continuation of their 2000 debut, Hybrid Theory, instead of a retreat to familiar ground. Then again, Reanimation wasn’t much more than a way to buy time (along with maybe a little credibility), so it’s unfair to say that its dabbling in electronica and hip-hop truly pointed toward a new direction for the group, but it did provide a more interesting listening experience than Meteora, which is nothing more and nothing less than a Hybrid Theory part two. Which isn’t to say that Linkin Park didn’t put any effort into the record, since it does demonstrate that the group does stand apart from the pack by having the foresight to smash all nu-metal trademarks — buzzing guitars, lumbering rhythms, angsty screaming, buried scratching, rapped verses — into one accessible sound which suggests hooks instead of offering them. More importantly, the group has discipline and editing skills, keeping this record at a tight 36 minutes and 41 seconds, a move that makes it considerably more listenable than its peers and, by extension, more powerful, since they know where to focus their energy, something that many nu-metal bands simply do not. (It must be said that there will surely be consumers out there that will question paying a $19.99 retail for a 36-minute-and-41-second record, though some may prefer getting a tight, listenable record at that price instead of a meandering 70-minute mess.)

So, it must be said that Meteora does deliver on the most basic level — it gives the fans what they want, and it does so with energy and without fuss. It’s also without surprises, either, which again gives the album a static feeling — suggesting not a holding pattern for the band, but rather the limits of their chosen genre, which remains so stylistically rigid and formulaic that even with a band who follows the blueprint well, like Linkin Park, it winds up sounding a little samey and insular. Since this is only their second go-round, this is hardly a fatal flaw, but the similarity of Meteora to Hybrid Theory does not only raise the question of where do they go from here, but whether there is a place for them to go at all. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Personnel:
Chester Bennington (vocals)
Rob Bourdon (drums, background vocals)
Brad Delson (guitar, background vocals)
Dave Farrell (bass guitar, backing vocals
Joe Hahn (turntables, samples, background vocals)
Mike Shinoda (rap vocals, vocals, samples)
+
David Zasloff (shakuhachi flute (on 11.)
+
violin:
Joel Derouin – Charlie Bisharat – Alyssa Park – Sara Parkins – Michelle Richards – Mark Robertson

viola:
Evan Wilson – Bob Becker

cello:
Larry Corbett – Dan Smith

Tracklist:
01. Foreword 0.13
02. Don’t Stay 3.08
03. Somewhere I Belong 3.34
04. Lying From You 2.55
05. Hit The Floor 2.44
06. Easier To Run 3.24
07. Faint 2.42
08. Figure.09 3.18
09. Breaking The Habit 3.16
10. From The Inside 2.56
11. Nobody’s Listening 2.59
12. Session 2.25
13. Numb 3.08
+
14. Step Up (live) 4.14
15. Somewhere I Belong (live at Milton Keynes, 2008) 3.42

All songs written by:
Chester Bennington – Rob Bourdon – Brad Delson – Dave Farrell – Joe Hahn – Mike Shinoda

*
**

More from Linkin Park:

The official website:

Pic of the day: Another great pic of …

… the one and only Jack Bruce during his time with Cream:

Bob Dylan & The Band – Isle Of Wight (1969)

Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career spanning more than 60 years. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” (1963) and “The Times They Are a-Changin'” (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements. His lyrics during this period incorporated a range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defying pop music conventions and appealing to the burgeoning counterculture. 8wikipedia)

Bob Dylan’s influence on popular music is incalculable. As a songwriter, he pioneered several different schools of pop songwriting, from confessional singer/songwriter to winding, hallucinatory, stream-of-consciousness narratives. As a vocalist, he broke down the notion that a singer must have a conventionally good voice in order to perform, thereby redefining the vocalist’s role in popular music. As a musician, he sparked several genres of pop music, including electrified folk-rock and country-rock. And that’s just the tip of his achievements. Dylan’s force was evident enough during his height of popularity in the 1960s — the Beatles’ shift toward introspective songwriting in the mid-’60s never would have happened without him — but his influence echoed throughout several subsequent generations, as many of his songs became popular standards and his best albums became undisputed classics of the rock & roll canon.

Dylan’s influence on folk music was equally powerful, and he marks a pivotal turning point in its 20th century evolution, signifying when the genre moved away from traditional songs and toward personal songwriting. Even when his sales declined in the ’80s and ’90s, Dylan’s presence rarely lagged, and his commercial revival in the 2000s proved his staying power. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

And here´s a very interesting bootleg LP from Dylan and the Band’s concert on Isle of Wight, UK, 31 Aug 69. This 1972 LP contains the complete concert. All photos on the cover are from the actual show.

There are several other bootlegs with the same or other titles, and about the same content, e.g. Isle of Wight, UK 1970 (Blank Labels, CT A(B), GWA 44A), Isle of Wight, US 1970 (Isle 509A/B – white cover with insert), Isle of Wight, USA 1972 (TMQ GWA45,), Belle Isle, Europe 1983, Island Man, Germany 1986, Isle of Wight, CD 1994 (Wanted Man Music WMM 39), Bob Dylan in Concert, and Minstrel Boy.

Sound quality basically sucked big time on all of the boots from the Isle of Wight. Following the Great White Wonder, boots of this concert understandably turned a lot of people off to bootlegs.(theband.hiof.no)

Personnel:
Bob Dylan (guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals)
+
The Band:
Rick Danko (bass, background vocals)
Levon Helm (drums)
Garth Hudson (organ)
Richard Manuel (piano, drums)
Robbie Robertson (guitar)

So many alternate frontcovers:

Tracklist:
01. She Belongs To Me 2.48
02. I Threw It All Away 3.07
03. Maggie’s Farm 4.34
04. The Wild Mountain Thyme 3.07
05. It Ain’t Me Babe 3.18
06. To Ramona 2.19
07. Lay Lady Lay 3.40
08. Highway 61 Revisited 3.39
09. One Too Many Mornings 2.27
10. I Pity The Poor Immigrant 3.45
11. Like A Rolling Stone 4.56
12. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight 3.16
13. The Mighty Quinn 2.53
14. Minstrel Boy 3.20
15. Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35 1.01
16. Mr. Tambourine Man 3.37
17. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine 3.19

All songs written by Bob Dylan

*
**

George Harrison was perhaps the biggest Bob Dylan fan of all the Beatles and he remained friends with the American throughout his life. It was George, his wife Pattie Boyd and Beatles roadie Mal Evans who travelled to Portsmouth in late August 1969 to greet Dylan upon his arrival to the UK. The initial meeting was only short as that evening Dylan and his family took the ferry over to the Isle of Wight, to Forelands Farm in Bembridge where they were staying and rehearsing. George, Pattie and Mal in the meantime returned to London to take care of some business before joining up with Bob and his family on the island two days later.

On 30th August 1969, the day before Dylan’s scheduled headline performance, John Lennon and Ringo Starr arrived on the island along with their wives Yoko and Maureen and a number of other celebrity attendees including Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton, all eager to see Dylan perform. (beatlesstory.com)

More from Bob Dylan:

Bob Dylan received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016:

The official website:

Big Balls And The Great White Idiot (1977)

Big Balls and the Great White Idiot was one of the first, and one of the best known, early German punk rock bands. They were founded in Hamburg in 1975 by Peter Grund (drums, vocals, text), “Baron Adolf Kaiser” (vocals), Wolfgang Lorenz (guitar) and the Grund brothers: Alfred (bass, vocals) and Atli (guitar). The band was strongly influenced by the Sex Pistols.  Their lyrics were written in English.

Performances on stage were highly aggressive; the band was known to shout at the audience to go home. “Baron Adolf” provoked the audience by wearing a Nazi uniform and a black moustache as an expression of anarchy. Punk News magazine called their sound “mean and ugly.”

Their reasoning was “Wir hassen alle und wollen von allen gehasst werden. Die Leute sollen durch unsere Musik zum Durchbrechen und Aufmotzen gezwungen werden, damit sie ihre Frustration merken.“ (English translation: “We hated everyone and wanted to be hated by everyone. Through our music we wanted to force people to have a break-through and feel a call to action, so that they would notice their frustration.”)

Their first album was released in 1977 by Nova/Teldec, named Big Balls. Among the 17 songs were several covers: a version of the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the U.K.”, in this case “Anarchy in Germany,” a cover of “White Light, White Heat“ by the Velvet Underground, and a cover of “Search And Destroy“ by The Stooges. In 1978 Big Balls released their second album Foolish Guys. Their next two albums, Artikel 1 and Creepy Shades, were released on their own label Balls Records, the latter bringing a change in sound away from punk.

The 1980s saw the “Balls” (with French guitarist Hervé Rozoum) more often in theaters contributing their music to various stageplays. In the 1990s, the Balls produced several albums with actor Jan Fedder as “Jan Fedder & Big Balls”. (wikipedia)

And here´s their first album:

A very good album by the great Big Balls & The Great White Idiot released on German’s Nova Records in 1977. A revved up and energized batch of punk tunes that are quite enjoyable and memorable. An amped up hybrid of punk, glam and Stooges style rock. They cover “Search And Destroy” from The Stooges and hold a definite Stooges influence throughout the LP. Repeated listenings will be desired if you can seek out and find this rare gem. A very underrated band. (Mark Yokel)

This is way better than the majority of punk LPs to come out of 77, highly under appreciated. (jimrandylahey)

But … this album is not my thing … My attitude to life then and now had nothing to do with punk !

Personnel:
Alfred Grund (bass, vocals)
Atli Grund (guitar)
Peter Grund (drums, vocals)
Wolfgang Lorenz (guitar),
“Baron Adolf Kaiser” (vocals)

Tracklist:
01. I’m A Punk (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 1.33
02. TV-Song (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 1.38
03. Enemy Love (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 1.30
04. Schlitz-Blitz (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 1.37
05. No More Nightmares (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 2.47
06. Damned, Damned Life (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 2.10
07. Rock ’N’ Roll Madness (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 1.19
08. Search And Destroy (Pop/Williamson) 3.17
09. Intro (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 1.00
10. Raver Treatment 2.29
11. Anarchy In Germany (Matlocke/Cook/Richman) 3.18
12. Kick Her In The Dirt (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 1.17
13. No Chance (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 2.12
14. Hey. Dr. Frey (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 1.50
15. White Light, White Heat (Reed) 1.46
16. I’m Singing To You With My Finger In Your Ass (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/ Lorenz/Kaiser) 3.27
17. Go To Hell (P.Grund/Alfred Grund/Atli Grund/Lorenz/Kaiser) 1.51

*
**

The now deleted official website:

John Cipollina – Live At New George’s (1988)

John Cipollina (August 24, 1943 – May 29, 1989) was a guitarist best known for his role as a founder and the lead guitarist of the prominent San Francisco rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service. After leaving Quicksilver he formed the band Copperhead, was a member of the San Francisco All Stars and later played with numerous other bands.
Early years

John and his twin sister Manuela were born in Berkeley, California, on August 24, 1943. Cipollina attended Tamalpais High School, in Mill Valley, California, as did his brother, Mario (born 1954), and sister, Antonia (born 1952). Their father, Gino, was of Italian ancestry (Genovese and Piemontese origins). He was a realtor, and their mother, Evelyn, and godfather, José Iturbi, were concert pianists.

John showed great promise as a classical pianist in his youth, but his father gave him a guitar when he was 12 and this quickly became his primary instrument.

Cipollina had a unique guitar sound, mixing solid state and valve amplifiers as early as 1965. He is considered one of the fathers of the San Francisco sound, a form of psychedelic rock.

I like the rapid punch of solid-state for the bottom, and the rodent-gnawing distortion of the tubes on top.

To create his distinctive guitar sound, Cipollina developed a one-of-a-kind amplifier stack. His Gibson SG guitars had two pickups, one for bass and one for treble. The bass pickup fed into two Standel bass amps on the bottom of the stack, each equipped with two 15-inch speakers. The treble pickups fed two Fender amps: a Fender Twin Reverb and a Fender Dual Showman that drove six Wurlitzer horns.

After leaving Quicksilver in 1971, Cipollina formed the band Copperhead with early Quicksilver member Jim Murray (who was soon to leave for Maui, Hawaii), former Stained Glass member Jim McPherson, drummer David Weber, Gary Phillipet (AKA Gary Phillips (keyboardist), later a member of Bay Area bands Earthquake and The Greg Kihn Band), and Pete Sears. Sears was shortly thereafter replaced by current and longtime Bonnie Raitt bassist James “Hutch” Hutchinson who played on the Copperhead LP and stayed with the band for its duration. Copperhead disbanded in mid 1974 after becoming a staple in the SF Bay Area and touring the West Coast, Hawaii (Sunshine Crater Fest on New Years Day of 1973 with Santana), the South (opening dates for Steely Dan) and the Midwest.

In May 1974 Cipollina and Link Wray, whose playing and style had influenced John as a young musician and who he had met through bassist Hutch Hutchinson, performed a series of shows together along the West Coast (with Copperhead rhythm section Hutchinson & Weber and keyboardist David Bloom) culminating at The Whiskey in LA where they performed for four nights (May 15–19) on a bill with Lighthouse (band). Cipollina continued to occasionally perform with Wray for the next couple of years.

During the 1980s, Cipollina performed with a number of bands, including Fish & Chips, Thunder and Lightning, the Dinosaurs and Problem Child. He was a founding member of Zero and its rhythm guitarist until his death. Most often these bands played club gigs in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Cipollina was well-known.

In 1975, the Welsh psychedelic band Man toured the United States, towards the end of which, they played two gigs at the San Francisco Winterland (March 21 and 22), which were such a success that promoter Bill Graham paid them a bonus and rebooked them. While waiting for the additional gigs, the band met and rehearsed with Cipollina, who played with them at Winterland in April 1975. After this, Cipollina agreed to play a UK tour which took place in May 1975, during which their “Roundhouse gig” was recorded.

The album eventually reached #25 in the UK album charts.

Cipollina died on May 29, 1989 at age 45. His cause of death was alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, which he suffered from most of his life and which is exacerbated by smoking.

Quicksilver Messenger Service fans paid tribute to him the following month in San Francisco at an all-star concert at the Fillmore Auditorium which featured Nicky Hopkins, Pete Sears, David Freiberg, and John’s brother Mario, an original member of Huey Lewis and the News. Cipollina’s one of a kind massive amplifier stack was donated, along with one of his customized Gibson SG guitars, and effects pedals, for display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 1995.[2]

In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Cipollina 32nd on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. (wikipedia)

John Cipollina autographed guitar:

John Cipollina’s guitar sounded like no other. His unique resonance touched people in places they didn’t know existed. His signature sound will stand alone for all time as a part of the musical thread the San Francisco Bay Area has wrapped around the world.

John passed away from a lifelong respiratory ailment on May 29, 1989. He left behind a great musical contribution for his worldwide audience to enjoy. For those of us who knew him, we share the memory of a truly wonderful person, whose being so perfectly reflected the magic in his music.(johncipollina.com)

To know why he was so good … you could listen to this magnificent live album, for example … simply excellent !

Recorded live at New George’s, San Rafael, CA, 24 February 1988
(excellent broadcast recording)

Personnel:
Chris Cole (vocals)
John Cipollina (guitar, background vocals)
Greg Douglass (guitar, background vocals)
Greg Elmore (drums)
Rob Wullenjohn (bass)

Tracklist:
01. Intro / It’s Your Monkey Now (Cipollina) 6.13
02. Prayers (Douglass/Kilcourse) 3.44
03. Moonlight Traveler (Cipollina) 5.48
04. Hired Hand (unknown) 4.32
05. All Worth The Price You Pay (Douglass/Cipollina) 11.20
06. I Put A Spell On You (Hawkins) 5.53
07. Band intro 1.50
08. Jungle Love (Turner/Douglass) 4.42
09. Move Over (Cipollina) 4.09
10. Follow Her Around (Hayes) 5.28
11. Blind Love (Douglass/Sendyt) 7.12

*
**

The concert poster:

More from John Cipollina:

Unofficial website:

John Cipollina (August 24, 1943 – May 29, 1989):

Pic of the day: But …

… that’s no way to treat records !

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Same (1967)

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band formed in 1966. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California. Between 1976 and 1981, the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band.

Constant members since the early times are singer-guitarist Jeff Hanna and drummer Jimmie Fadden. Multi-instrumentalist John McEuen was with the band from 1966 to 1986 and returned during 2001, staying 16 years, then departing again in November 2017. Keyboardist Bob Carpenter joined the band in 1977. The band is often cited as instrumental to the progression of contemporary country and roots music.

The band’s successes include a cover version of Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles”. Albums include 1972’s Will the Circle be Unbroken, featuring such traditional country artists as Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, and Jimmy Martin. A follow-up album based on the same concept, Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two was released in 1989, was certified gold, won two Grammys, and was named Album of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards. (wikipedia)

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is the first album by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, released in 1967. This album debuted on the U.S. Billboard Top Pop Albums chart on April 8, 1967, peaked at number 161, and was on the charts for eight weeks. The single “Buy for Me the Rain” b/w “Candy Man” debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on April 8, 1967, peaked at number 45 on May 6, 1967, and was on the charts for seven weeks. In Canada, the single reached number 37 in May 1967. (wikipedia)

A strong debut album by one of the most offbeat folk/country-rock bands of the 1960s, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Apart from the one unabashed classic, “Buy for Me the Rain,” which was a modest hit and the group’s biggest claim to musical fame for the next three years, the album also contained the delightful banjo-dominated John McEuen/Bill McEuen instrumental “Dismal Swamp” (which was anything but dismal), the Jackson Browne ballad “Holding,” the rousing “You’re Gonna Get It in the End,” and Bruce Kunkel’s haunting, ethereal “Song to Jutta” (as fine a song as anything the Byrds were doing at the time, and better played).

In those days, the band wasn’t too far removed from the sound of the early Grateful Dead or the Charlatans, but as this album reveals, drugs played less of a role in their music-making than humor, and some of the material was a little too comedic — Rev. Gary Davis’s “Candy Man,” for example, comes off more upbeat than blues covers were supposed to be in those days, and may have seemed a little too much like a minstrel show interpretation (though one suspects Davis would have loved it), in a time when white versions of such songs were supposed to be either heavily electrified or reverent to the point of being somber. (by Bruce Eder)

Personnel:
“Raucous” Ralph Barr (guitar, kazoo, washtub bass, bubbles)
Jimmy “Starch Harpo” Fadden (harmonica, washtub bass, Phinius, kazoo)
Jeff “Spunky Duff” Hanna (washboard, sandblocks, guitar, comb, kazoo, phinius)
Bruce “Spider Bones” Kunkel (guitar, kazoo, washtub bass)
John “King O’ Banjo” McEuen (banjo, washtub bass)
Les “Totally” Thompson (mandolin, kazoo, washtub bass, phinius)
James SK Wān (slide whistle)

Tracklist:
01. Buy For Me The Rain (Noonan/Copeland) 2.23
02. Euphoria (Ventura/Kral) 1.28
03. Melissa (Browne) 2.16
04. You Took the Happiness (Out of My Head) (Regan) 2.22
05. Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah) (Yellen/Ager/Bigelow/Bates) 2.10
06. Holding (Browne) 2.36
07. Song To Jutta (Kunkel) 2.35
08. Candy Man (Davis) 2.28
09. Dismal Swamp (J.McEuen/W.McEuen) 2.54
10. I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate (Piron) 1.49
11. Crazy Words, Crazy Tune (Yellen/Ager) 1.27
12. You’re Gonna Get It In The End (Takamatsu/Hendricks/Olson) 2.26

*
**

About the songs:

The album liner notes were written by Tiger Beat magazine feature editor Ann Moses. It focuses mostly on what the members look like, nicknames, and personalities – the type of information readers of Tiger Beat, teenage girls, would have been interested in.

The songs fall mostly into two very different styles. Half sound like songs of the 1920s; the other half sound like late 1960s laid-back rock. “Dismal Swamp” is bluegrass.

“Buy for Me the Rain” is one of the 1960s-style songs. It starts with guitar playing a fast, staccato pattern. This is joined by a violin playing long notes over top. Jeff Hanna sings lead. Someone else sings harmony on the second half of the verse, and a lower voice echos the last line of each verse [Bruce Kunkel]. That last line is always a cautionary variation on “before it is too late”. The first two verses propose buying things of natural beauty for each other, that cannot truly be bought, like the rain. The third verse says that happiness cannot be bought, and the final verse says that what we buy for each other is for “the living, it’s no use to the dead.” “Buy for Me the Rain” has been used as the main theme for the long running agriculture and agribusiness magazine TV program Market To Market, produced by Iowa PBS, and still used to this very day.

“Euphoria” was written by Robin Remailly, and was recorded first by the Holy Modal Rounders on their debut album in 1964 and later by the Youngbloods on their album Earth Music in 1968. (The songwriting credits on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album erroneously name saxophonist and band leader Charlie Ventura and his piano player Roy Kral; their 1949 “Euphoria” is a different item altogether.) It is a fast song featuring much wacky laughter. The vocals sound like Jimmie Fadden, and he also plays harmonica on this. Someone else doubles the vocals in parts in a silly falsetto. Banjo and guitar provide the music.

“Melissa” was written by Jackson Browne years before his first record. The song is in the 1920s style. The tempo is lazy and the music features banjo, guitar, and snare drum. Kazoo present the melody, with a clickity clack percussion, at the beginning of the song and repeats at the break.

“You Took the Happiness Out of My Head” is also performed in the 1920s style. The tempo is a little faster and banjo, guitar, and snare drum provide the foundation of the music. A harmonica is played over top of this and featured at the break. The lyrics are essentially “you broke my heart when you went away”. The song ends with more wacky laughter.

“Hard Hearted Hannah” was a popular song from the 1920s. It is performed here in that style, as a mid-tempo song featuring piano more prominently. The vocals feature call and response. The lyrics describe how a woman named Hannah likes to see men suffer.

“Holding” is the second Jackson Browne composition. It is an up-tempo tune in the 1960s style, featuring guitar in the foreground and banjo in the background. Holding means something slightly different in each verse and chorus; the narrator is holding his door open, holding his own, and holding his name up.

“Song to Jutta” is a 1960s-style song written by band member Bruce Kunkel. Guitar, snare, and tambourine provide the back rhythm. A piano provides the baseline and an electric piano plays a counter melody. Vocals are long notes giving it a mellow feel. The lyrics implore you to take in the beauty of morning walk on the beach before you have to face the harsh world.

“Candy Man” was written by Reverend Gary Davis, a blues and gospel singer and guitarist. Jeff Hanna sings lead on this up tempo version. Another voice replies on the last verse. It features two harmonicas on the breaks.

“Dismal Swamp” is a fast bluegrass instrumental. John McEuen’s banjo dominates the song. It also features violin. The song was written by John and his brother William, who was their manager and produced some of their other albums.

“I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate” is an up-tempo jazz dance song, written in 1919 and is performed here in that style. Kazoo, banjo, and guitar are featured on the break. There is a double vocal on the chorus.

“Crazy Words – Crazy Tune” was composed in 1927, a quick, snappy number which the title describes perfectly. It is also known as “Washington at Valley Forge”.[4] The lyrics are about someone who is annoyed at their neighbor, for playing the ukulele and singing all night long. The music provided by guitar, banjo, and snare. The kazoo solo performed by band member Bruce “Spider Bones” Kunkel.

“You’re Gonna Get It in the End” was written by the band The Lamp of Childhood. While The Lamp only released a few singles, and had no hits, one member had some notoriety. James Hendricks had been in The Big Three and The Mugwumps with his then wife Cass Elliot. He went on to write the number-one hit “Summer Rain” for Johnny Rivers. “You’re Gonna Get It In The End” was a Lamp Of Childhood unreleased track and was included on this album months after The Lamp Of Childhood broke up. This is performed in the 1960s style. It features banjo and guitar throughout and a guitar solo at the break. The lyrics are about getting revenge on a girl who is messing with his mind.

More from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band:

The official website: