Author: Hallgeir Olsen

Classic Documentary: Neil Young Don’t Be Denied BBC

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Don’t be Denied: Neil Young (BBC)

I have a lot(!) of Neil Young documentaries/films/concert footage lying around, and this is the best of them all (…no, it was not me who uploaded it on YouTube, thanks to the original uploader). Neil Young really opens up and the live footage is spectacular. Young is very much aware of his “difficult” personality, his quest for great art is his most important task in life. The film explores how Young’s unflinching dedication to the muse has created an impressive body of work and bruised a lot of people along the way. But he is also a warm and funny person. This docu was also shown in the American Masters series on PBS in the US.

The film ends with Neil Young playing an anti-Bush anthem to a Republican audience in the South, still refusing to be denied.

Neil Young – Don’t be denied (BBC):

  • Hallgeir

December 15: Classic concert, Bruce Springsteen at Winterland Ballroom SF in 1978

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

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“Tonight you’re gonna hear the concert of your life”, the guy of KSAN states to his listeners at the beginning of this radio broadcast, and it is the truth!

Bruce Springsteen Winterland Ballroom

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Bruce’s Winterland-78 concert is by many fans & “concert tape collectors” regarded as one of his best shows ever… It is indeed a cornerstone in any collection of concert bootlegs (regardless of artist). Number 2 on my list (Egil) of the best Springsteen’s concerts I’ve heard. It is now selling as a “semi official” release at amazon.co.uk. Continue reading “December 15: Classic concert, Bruce Springsteen at Winterland Ballroom SF in 1978” →

December 15: Johnny Cash released the single, Folsom prison blues in 1955

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

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Folsom Prison Blues is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Johnny Cash. The song combines elements from two popular folk genres, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash would continue to use for the rest of his career. It became one of Cash’s signature songs. It was the eleventh track on his debut album With His Hot and Blue Guitar but was also included (same version) on All Aboard the Blue Train. Folsom Prison Blues was in the country Top Five in 1956, though Cash had written it while in the Air Force somewhere before 1954.

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December 3: The Who released My Generation in 1965

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

 An explosive debut, and the hardest mod pop recorded by anyone. At the time of its release, it also had the most ferociously powerful guitars and drums yet captured on a rock record. Pete Townshend’s exhilarating chord crunches and guitar distortions threaten to leap off the grooves on “My Generation” and “Out in the Street”; Keith Moon attacks the drums with a lightning, ruthless finesse throughout.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)

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Nov 30: The late great Robert Nighthawk was born in 1909

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Of all the pivotal figures in blues history, certainly one of the most important was Robert Nighthawk. He bridged the gap between Delta and Chicago blues effortlessly, taking his slide cues from Tampa Red and stamping them with a Mississippi edge learned first hand from his cousin, Houston Stackhouse.
~Cub Koda (allmuisc.com)

Goin’ Down To Eli’s (Live On Maxwell Street):

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Nov 29: Concert for George 2002

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

On November 29, 2002, a year after his death, a tribute concert for George Harrison was held at Royal Albert Hall. Friends and family gathered to play his songs, and it was an impressive, if predictable, roster:

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Tom Petty, and Eric Clapton, who also served as musical director, took center stage, but George’s son Dhani Harrison was also there, as was Ravi Shankar’s daughter Anoushka, early British rock & roller Joe Brown, and Gary Brooker. Unlike many all-star lineups, everybody had a close personal connection to George.

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