On August 15, 1998, a car bomb in the Irish town of Omagh killed 29 people and injured 220 more. It was the worst terrorist attack in the history of the Troubles. It is a terrible story that has only gotten more difficult with the numerous setbacks in the long struggle for justice for the victims' families. If you'd like to learn more, there is a well written, comprehensive account of this atrocity here . On November 20, 1998, U2 was part of a tribute to the Omagh victims on an episode of The Late, Late [...]
On June 14, 1998, over 120,00 people attended the third annual Tibetan Freedom Concert at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. Many great bands played the weekend festival, including Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, The Beastie Boys, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and A Tribe Called Quest. The Dave Matthews Band also performed. Radiohead and R.E.M decided to collaborate a bit during their sets. First, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe sang lead for Radiohead on this incredible version of "Lucky." Radiohead with Michael Stipe - "Lucky" [...]
In the beginning, the Beastie Boys didn't rap, instead they played in a punk band with Kate Schellenbach, who would go on to be the drummer in the band Luscious Jackson. Here is an interesting three song set they played for the Scott & Gary Show on a public access cable in New York. The Beastie Boys changed direction, much to the chagrin of these two guys below, and in 1985 with producer Rick Rubin, they put out a 45 locally for the song "Rock Hard." The Beasties rapped over a sample of [...]
Some of my favorite shows that I will remember forever involved going to see this version of Marah. The band was fantastic, the venues were intimate, and the fans there were some of the best people I've ever met. This lineup toured for the excellent album " If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry ." It featured founding members David and Serge Bielanko on vocals and guitar, Kirk Henderson on bass and keyboards, Adam Garbinski on guitar, and Dave Petersen on drums. These five guys together were incredible and this full show is great evidence of that. Check it out and [...]
I decided to take a little time off from this blog... and somehow that became a lot of time off. I kept all the links working, unless a record company or an artist wanted the post or the mp3s deleted, and was pleasantly surprised to check today and see that this blog has had over 53,000 visitors. That's a lot of music collections that are just a little bit better and it feels good to have been a part of that. I missed updating this blog a little too much. I've got a million ideas for what [...]
Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Bruce Springsteen have become very good friends over the years. The mutual admiration they have for each other definitely showed when Eddie paid tribute to Bruce by covering Springsteen's "My City of Ruins" at the Kennedy Center Honors on December 6, 2009. Here's a video and an mp3 of this beautiful performance. Eddie Vedder - My City of Ruins (Bruce Springsteen cover) Thanks for checking this out.
On October 16, 1992 at Madison Square Garden, Sony Music put on a pay per view all star concert to celebrate Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary on Columbia Records. Dubbed "Bobfest" by Neil Young from the stage, the four hour show featured a wide variety of artists performing Dylan songs. It was too bloated, but there were many highlights. Here are some videos (with some mp3s) of the best performances. Eddie Vedder was joined by Pearl Jam bandmate Mike McCready and Saturday Night Live bandleader G.E. Smith for this seering version of "Masters of War." [...]
Neil Finn is the legendary singer/songwriter who has made a lot of great music with Split Enz, fronting Crowded House, and on his own excellent solo albums. This past winter, he again brought together a large group of musicians, including members of Radiohead and Wilco, to play a series of shows in his native New Zealand. This time, the group took the band name of 7 Worlds Collide and recorded a double album of new songs, Sun Came Out . There will be a post on this blog next week about this album, (I have to listen to it [...]
In 1990, U2 went to Germany just before the Berlin Wall came down and reunification occurred to begin recording their next album, the result of which would be my favorite album ever, Achtung Baby . They recorded in Berlin's Hansa Ton Studio where David Bowie worked with Brian Eno to create Low, Heroes, and Lodger . U2 went into the studio with Daniel Lanois and Flood with very little material and just tried to create songs while jamming around some song sketches and parts. Then the tapes got stolen and later bootlegged all around the world, after they [...]
In 1983, the movie National Lampoon's Vacation was released. This classic comedy followed Clark Griswold and his family as they traveled across the country to visit Wally World. The movie was a huge hit that spawned two great sequels and it is a classic that people watch again and again on DVD. If you've never seen it, you probably live in a cave and/or are severly deprived. After taking the lead in creating the incredibly ambitous and adventurous album Tusk with Fleetood Mac, Lindsay Buckingham went to on to release an [...]
For many years now, one of the best bands in Philadelphia has been John Train. On stage and on record, lead vocalist and songwriter Jon Houlon does a deft job of mixing his great own songs with some well chosen covers pretty seamlessly. At his side since the beginning, playing amazingly on all kinds of guitars has been Mike Brenner, known for his excellent work with Marah and with his own band Slo-Mo. They've both been backed up by a talented group of musicians. The current lineup includes Steve Demarest (bass), Bill Fergusson (mandolin), Mark Tucker (guitar), and Mark [...]
By singing many of their greatest songs, while also being a fantastic drummer, Levon Helm was an important part of what made The Band one of the greatest rock groups of all time. Here he is at his best, singing the classic "Up On Cripple Creek" on stage at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh in 1970, followed by the original studio track. The Band - Up On Cripple Creek In the late 1990's, Levon lost his voice and was diagnosed with throat cancer. In this interview [...]
Chris and Rich Robinson formed the Black Crowes in 1984. There are have been a lot of highs and some lows on their records over the years, but they have always remained a hugely successful live act. One of the big reasons for this is their ability to mix in great covers into their sets. Here are a few of their best that have been captured on video over the years. A fun video (with some hilarious crowd shots) of the Crowes covering Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35" at the 1991 Monsters of Rock [...]
In 1999, John Prine released In Spite of Ourselves , a brilliant album of duets with nine of his favorite female singers and an excellent group of musicians backing him up. The record was a collection of classic country covers that tells the story of the many ups and downs of a relationship. Mostly downs though since there are a ton of great cheating songs at the core of this album. John had some incredible duet partners for this, including Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, and Patty Loveless. The highlight of In Spite of Ourselves though, and his [...]
Bruce Springsteen is turning 60 this week. In honor of him, let's put up ten more covers of his songs from some other great artists. If you missed it, there are ten more favorite Bruce covers from an earlier post on this blog here . Ten more excellent covers of Bruce Springsteen's songs: The Hollies - Fourth of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) David Bowie - It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City The Band - Atlantic City [...]
Our Dolly Parton weekend concludes with her biggest hit of the 1970's, her song "Jolene" from 1974. It is an emotional, powerful song and it is easy to see why it was so popular. This is the song that solidified Dolly as a country star, launching her into much more mainstream and crossover success in the future. Dolly Parton - Jolene Very early on in their careers, the White Stripes took to covering the song in their live shows. Their version is phenomenal and it was the [...]
Neil Young's third solo album, After the Goldrush was released in 1970. It featured more sparse and introspective songs than the heavier rock with Crazy Horse at the center of his second album, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere . At the heart of this album was the title song, a brilliant, timeless classic that remains as powerful and relevant as ever. Here's live video from the concert film Rust Never Sleeps and the studio track (with a 17 year old Nils Lofgren on piano). Neil Young - [...]
Yes, this actually happened and amazingly, somehow, someway, it was awesome. Go figure. Everybody and their mother knows all about Zep's "Stairway to Heaven" so what's the sense of writing about it. Here are two live versions of the song. The somewhat lackluster performance from their MSG concert film The Song Remains the Same , followed by the tremendous version from their most recent live album, How the West Was Won . Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven (from How the West Was Won ) [...]
Giorgio Moroder composed many of Donna Summer's huge disco hits in the late 1970's and early 1980's. One of the best tracks they made together was the song "On the Radio." Here's the music video for the song, followed by the studio track. Donna Summer - On the Radio On her underrated 1983 album White Shoes , Emmylou Harris covered "On the Radio." No, Emmylou did not go all disco on us. Instead, she chose to keep the slower tempo used at the beginning of Donna [...]
Salty Salutes
The Shins: “September” (b-side of “Simple Song” 7”)
St. Vincent - 'Cheerleader'
Jay-Z & Kanye West - Ni**as In Paris (Explicit)
OK Go - Needing/Getting - Official Video
Ladyhawke - Black White & Blue
First Aid Kit – Emmylou
Childish Gambino - "Heartbeat" (Official Music Video)
James Blake – Live Album
Mux Mool
