It’s hard to sum up a whole year of cultural input. What does it mean to be best? For me it means, the stuff that moved me most, shook me, made me happy, made me sad, made me feel alive.
It’s been an eventful year. With ups and downs. This post will be “all over the place”, i will put in lists about a lot of things. But let us start with the traditional concert list.
These are the 20 best concerts I attended in 2016: Continue reading “Hallgeir’s 2016 part 1: Best Concerts”
Neil played a wonderful set in 1971 that was taped and broadcast by The BBC. He arrived in England right after the release of Harvest the concert is part of a promo tour of the album. It is just Neil Young alone with his guitar and a set of songs that has become part of any best-of collections by him. At this concert they were fresh material. He also did some unreleased songs. The filming and the sound is very good, and Neil Young’s stories about his life and surroundings are easy to follow. This is a true gem, and one of the best captures of Neil Young in the early period.
Set list:
01.- Out on the Weekend 00:00
02.- Old Man 03:59
03.- Journey Through the Past 08:04
04.- Heart of Gold 13:09
05.- Don’t Let It Bring You Down 17:16
06.- A Man Needs a Maid 20:15
07.- Love in Mind 24:14
08.- Dance Dance Dance 26:27
Neil Young at The BBC 1971:
– Hallgeir
“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’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”
Baby, you got to get behind the mule!
– Tom Waits
The same year as Mule Variations was released, 1999, VH1 broadcast a Storyteller episode with Tom Waits. It aired in the middle of the night; I didn’t have any plans for the next day so I stayed up and watched.
What a songwriter! What a storyteller! He teases the audience, plays with them, he is the pied piper! All the stories are funny/weird and moving. Is he lying? He’s probably making the stuff up as he goes along, or have all of these things actually happen? I really don’t care, his delivery is amusing and so entertaining that he could probably read the A to G in the phonebook and I would find it funny. This might not work with newcomers to Waits’s concerts, they will probably find it a bit too weird and rambling. They should watch Big Time (the movie) first and then come back to this (or maybe it’s the other way ’round, he he).
VH1 Storytellers allows Tom Waits to showcase some his then new material — among them is House Where Nobody Lives, one of the finest ballads he has ever written, here in a heartbreakingly beautiful version. We also get some Tom Waits history with favorites like Downtown Train (also a hit for Rod Stewart); Old ’55, (a hit for The Eagles ); and Jersey Girl, which Bruce Springsteen turned into a live favorite.
Set list:
Downtown Train
Ol’ 55
House Where Nobody Lives
Jersey Girl
What’s He Building In There?
Strange Weather
Get Behind The Mule
Tom Waits – VH1 Storytellers 1999:
The show was around 44 minutes but there were much more material recorded.
The rest of the concert is available to stream or download (legally) at Internet Archive in great quality:
– Hallgeir
This is a great show a couple of weeks after the release of Heartbreaker, Adams plays most of the album and some other favorites. He doesn’t talk much but delivers a good concert.
“Ryan doesn’t mind if live recordings make it up on sites as long as no money is changing hands, you know he allows anyone to plug into the board and record. Keep it fun and free and I think we are all ok with it.” as quoted from the co-webmaster of a Ryan Adam’s fan site. Quote was from Ryan Adams’ management.
Stream or download:
Here is a download link (via Archive.org)
– Hallgeir
Bob Dylan in a Post-MusiCares Conversation with Bill Flanagan:
ARE THERE ANY OTHER PERFORMERS BESIDES BILLY LEE RILEY THAT YOU CAN RECOMMEND FOR THE HALL OF FAME?Yeah sure, Willy DeVille for one, he stood out, his voice and presentation ought to have gotten him in there by now.
I AGREE WITH YOU, MAYBE HE’S BEEN OVERLOOKED. HE CARRIED A LOT OF HISTORY. THE DRIFTERS, BEN E. KING, SOLOMON BURKE, STREET CORNER DOO WOP AND JOHN LEE HOOKER WERE ALL THERE IN WHAT HE DID AND HOW HE PERFORMED.
I think so too.
YOU SUGGESTED THAT SOME OF THE ACTS IN THE HALL OF FAME MIGHT NOT BE TRUE ROCK & ROLL. YOU MENTIONED THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS, ABBA, ALICE COOPER. I HAVE TO STICK UP FOR STEELY DAN. NOT EVERYTHING THEY DID WAS ROCK & ROLL BUT “BODHISATTVA,” “SHOW BIZ KIDS,” “MY OLD SCHOOL” – THOSE SONGS ROCKED LIKE A BASTARD.
Yeah they might have rocked like a bastard, and I’m not saying that they didn’t, but put on any one of those records and then put on “In The Heat of the Moment” by Willy or “Steady Driving Man” or even “Cadillac Walk.” I’m not going to belittle Steely Dan but there is a difference.
Amen.
I’ve been a huge Mink Deville/Willy DeVille fan since I saw him at the 9th Rockpalast Night on tv in 1981. He behaved like a superstar from the beginning, he was just so cool.
Today’s Classic Concert was found in the archives of the late promoter, Bill Graham, who booked DeVille into the popular Winterland in the summer of 1978 on the same bill as Nick Lowe with Rockpile and Elvis Costello & the Attractions.
The best material from his first two albums are present here, including “Spanish Stroll,” “Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl,” “Guardian Angel,” “Cadillac Walk,” “Steady Drivin’ Man,” and “Soul Twist.” He gives a great vocal performance on a number of these songs, especially, “Soul Twist.” You should also check out the May 5 Concert at Capitol Theatre the same year, equally good but with lesser video quality (slightly).
Mink DeVille at Winterland 1978 the full set:
Continue reading “June 7: Classic concert Mink DeVille at Winterland SF 1978”