Author: Egil Mosbron

August 6: The Beatles released “Help!” in 1965

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

The_Beatles-Help_-Frontal

.. a big step forward, exploring doubt, loneliness, alienation, adult sexual longing, acoustic guitars, electric piano, bongos, castanets, and the finest George songs known to man. … Help! was utterly ruined in its U.S. version, which cut half the songs and added worthless orchestral soundtrack filler, so it’s always been underrated. But Help! is the first chapter in the astounding creative takeoff the Beatles were just beginning: the soulful bereavement of “Ticket to Ride,” the impossibly erotic gentleness of “Tell Me What You See,” the desperate falsetto and electric punch of “You’re Going to Lose That Girl.”
~rollingstone.com

…. the album’s masterpiece is McCartney’s brooding, deceptively simple chamber-pop ballad “Yesterday.” …  it’s compositionally complex, one of the first major pop songs to draw directly from classical music, juxtaposing acoustic guitar with a string quartet, shifting from minor to major chords. It set the stage for one of the most groundbreaking and innovative periods in The Beatles’ career, not to mention pop music in general.
~Mark Kemp (pastemagazine.com)

Help! – from a 6-song set filmed for British television in August of 1965:

From Wikipedia:

Released 6 August 1965
Recorded 15–19 February, 13 April, 10 May& 14–17 June 1965,
EMI Studios, London
Genre Rock
Length 34:20
Label Parlophone
Producer George Martin

Continue reading “August 6: The Beatles released “Help!” in 1965″ →

August 1: The late Jerry Garcia was born in 1942

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

jerry garcia 3

There’s no way to measure his greatness or magnitude as a person or as a player. I don’t think eulogizing will do him justice. He was that great – much more than a superb musician with an uncanny ear and dexterity. He is the very spirit personified of whatever is Muddy River Country at its core and screams up into the spheres. He really had no equal. To me he wasn’t only a musician and friend, he was more like a big brother who taught and showed me more than he’ll ever know. There are a lot of spaces and advances between the Carter Family, Buddy Holly and, say, Ornette Coleman, a lot of universes, but he filled them all without being a member of any school. His playing was moody, awesome, sophisticated, hypnotic and subtle. There’s no way to convey the loss. It just digs down really deep.
~Bob Dylan (Jerry Garcia’s Obituary – 10 August 1995)

Bruce Hornsby inducts the Grateful Dead at the 1994 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony:

Continue reading “August 1: The late Jerry Garcia was born in 1942” →

July 23: Tony Joe White is 73 Happy Birthday

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

tjw

Tony Joe White (born July 23, 1943, Oak Grove, Louisiana, United States) is  best known for his 1969 hit “Polk Salad Annie”; “Rainy Night in Georgia”, which he wrote but was first made popular by Brook Benton in 1970; and “Steamy Windows”, a hit for Tina Turner in 1989. “Polk Salad Annie” was also recorded by Elvis Presley and Tom Jones.

“Elvis’ producer Felton Jervis was a good friend of mine during the early days in Nashville. All of a sudden I released ‘Polk’ and it was a big hit single and then Felton called and invited my wife & me out to Las Vegas to see Elvis perform. He flew us out just to let us see Elvis do it live on stage! He did a good version of it, which of course he recorded for the live album. We hung out with Elvis for 2 or 3 days and just sat back in the dressing room and talked. We played a little guitar together – he really liked music. Elvis said, “Man, I feel like I wrote that song”. I said “You know, the way you do it on stage, it feels like you wrote it”. Elvis always treated me real good.”
– Tony Joe White

Here is another gem from the The Johnny Cash Show, Polk Salad Annie (w/ Johnny Cash):

Continue reading “July 23: Tony Joe White is 73 Happy Birthday” →

July 16: Neil Young released On The Beach in 1974

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

Neil Young - on-the-beach

“Good album. One side of it particularly—the side with ‘Ambulance Blues’, ‘Motion Pictures’ and ‘On the Beach’ — it’s out there. It’s a great take.”
~Neil Young

The second in Neil’s ditch trilogy, On the Beach was also disavowed by Young and unreleased on CD until 2003. It is weirder but sharper than Time Fades Away, with harrowing lows and amazing highs, including the off-the-cuff, eight-minute folk jam “Ambulance Blues.”
~rollingstone.com

Walk on:

Continue reading “July 16: Neil Young released On The Beach in 1974” →

Van Morrison – 6 Great live versions of “Ballerina”

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

 

Spread your wings
Come on fly awhile
Straight to my arms
Little angel child
You know you only
Lonely twenty-two story block

–

I was in San Francisco one time in 1966 and I was attracted to the city. It was the first time I had been there, and I was sitting in this hotel and all these things were going through my head, and I had a flash about an actress in an opera house appearing in a ballet, and I think that’s where the song came from.
-Van Morrison (to Ritchie Yorke)

–

If anyone ever argues that Morrison cannot sing – an unlikely scenario anyway – then simply play them this. All human emotion is crystallised here, and subtly vocalised: desire, joy, hope, world weariness, consolidation, awe & anticipation. The “angel child” here is also a fully mature woman. What sounds like a penny whistle comes in just at the end, almost subliminally. Van´s Celtic phase starts here.
-Brian Hinton (Celtic Crossroads)

Ballerina was recorded during the last Astral Weeks session on October 15, 1968 at Century Sound Studios in New York City. Lewis Merenstein was the producer.

He has performed it live 180 times according to the brilliant website ivan.vanomatic.de.

Here are 6 thrilling versions:

2/2/1974 – Winterland, San Francisco, CA:

Continue reading “Van Morrison – 6 Great live versions of “Ballerina”” →

Van Morrison & The Chieftains @ The Late Late Show – March 1988 (video)

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

van morrison - the late show 1988

Morrison also made a guest appearance at “The Late Late Show” tribute to The Chieftains.. joining with them on “Star Of The County Down”, [My Lagan Love] & “Marie´s Wedding”, the last with Christy Moore, Gary Moore & Paul Brady.
-Brian Hinton (Celtic Crossroads)

The Late Late Show: Tribute To The Chieftains, RTE, March 1988

  1. Star of the County Down
  2. My Lagan Love
  3. Marie’s Wedding

-Egil