Tom Waits: Songs After Closing Time – Denmark TV Concert 1976

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen




This is the pro-shot of a rare concert from Tom Waits at the Danish TV Channel in 1976, Sange efter lukketid/Songs After Closing Time also known as Elephant Beer Blues – Songs After Closing Time.

The whole show (songs and words) is subtitled in Danish. Tom is standing in the bar with a Carlsberg Elephant Beer (a very strong beer), hence the alternative title, while giving a good long rant along a jazzy tune. He then moves over to the piano and the real concert starts.

00:00 – Elephant Beer Blues (Incl. “Ghosts Of Saturday Night”, “Gee Baby Ain’t I Been Good To You” and others)
09:24 – New Coat of Paint
12:05 – Warm Beer Cold Women
18:21 – Emotional Weather Forecast
24:39 – Bad Liver And A Broken Heart
27:10 – Semi Suite
30:44 – Spare Parts I

DR TV Studios (Copenhagen, Denmark).
June 1976:

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Tom Waits: Coffee and Cigarettes – Somewhere in California (short film)

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Coffee and Cigarettes: Somewhere in California (also known as Coffee and Cigarettes III) is a 1993 black-and-white short film directed by writer/director Jim Jarmusch shot in Northern California. The film consists primarily of a conversation between Tom Waits and Iggy Pop in a coffee shop. The film would later be included in the feature-length Coffee and Cigarettes released in 2003.

The film won the Golden Palm at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival as best “Short Film”. We love the deadpan humour and the awkward dialogue. It gets better with age.


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Great New Album from Steve Earle – So You Wannabe an Outlaw

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]“There’s nothing ‘retro’ about this record,” Earle says. “I’m just acknowledging where I’m coming from.” So You Wannabe an Outlaw is the first recording he has made in Austin, TX. Earle has lived in New York City for the past decade. “Look, I’m always gonna be a Texan, no matter what I do,” he says. “And I’m always going to be somebody who learned their craft in Nashville. It’s who I am.”
–amazon.com[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

For me this is Steve Earle´s best album since Transcendental Blues (June 6, 2000). Backed by his band The Dukes (guitarist Chris Masterson, fiddle player Eleanor Whitmore, bassist Kelly Looney, and new members drummer Brad Pemberton and pedal steel player Ricky Ray Jackson) & recorded at Arlyn Studios in Austin. Produced by Richard Bennett.

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Racing In The Street by Bruce Springsteen – a deep dive into an iconic song

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen




Racing in the Street is a ballad written by Bruce Springsteen, it was originally released on his album Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978). The song has been referred to as Springsteen’s best song by a number of commentators. I think it’s a great song, and some nights it’s my favourite Bruce Springsteen song.

Darkness on the Edge of Town version:

“…And “Racing in the Streets” is still perhaps the best Springsteen song ever.”
– Rolling Stone magazine

Like so many times, before and since, the car is a symbol of freedom in Springsteen’s universe. Driving a car gives you the ultimate feeling of freedom in this world.

The song begins with two friends fixing up an old car. The story is made believable through Bruce’s attention to detail, he seems to know what he is talking about, “I got a ’69 Chevy with a 396, Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor”.  The two friends needs the car to go racing, to earn money from street racing. As the story is told, they go from town to town and win easy money. They’re like cowboys in the old west, riding where the work is, no strings attached.

Live version from The Darkness Box, 2010, Racing in the street (-78),”Songs from The Promise”:

The protagonist/the racer and his friend Sonny hasn’t stopped living, even if they have ordinary day jobs. They come home from work, get cleaned up and starts living, they go racing in the streets.

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6 Great Americana videos summer 2017

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

It’s time to present some of our new favourite videos, collected here for your convenience. When I say new it just means that they’re new to us. We just found’em and want to share them. They may be from the 30s and up to the present. Enjoy!

Colter Wall’s performs songs for CBC Music’s First Play Live. Set list:
0:00 Railroad Bill
2:57 You Look to Yours
8:14 Codeine Dream
11:47 Thirteen Silver Dollars
14:54 Motorcycle
17:24 Mule Skinner Blues
20:59 Kate McCannon

King Leg – Great Outdoors (directed by Gregory Alosio & Dwight Yoakam), new to me but clearly a Yoakam influenced act, with a bit of Roy Orbison thrown into the Bakersfield stew:

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Classic Bootleg: Van Morrison “Spring In My Heart – Live At Montreux 1997” (Audio)

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

Another great Van Morrison concert bootleg (sound & performance).

Montreux, Switzerland
19th July, 1997
The Gala Night

Musicians

  • Van Morrison: vocals, guitar, harmonica
  • Georgie Fame: vocals, organ
  • Ronnie Johnson: guitar
  • Geoff Dunn: drums
  • Nicky Scott: bass
  • Robin Aspland: piano
  • Pee Wee Ellis: soprano saxophone
  • Leo Green: saxophone
  • Matt Holland: trumpet
  • Brian Kennedy: vocals

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