Can You Go a Little Deeper: Jethro Tull
“Too Old to Rock and Roll, Too Young to Die” isn’t, by the strictest sense, a deep track. Actually the version I’m posting comes from one of two Jethro Tull greatest hits collections I have, so it’s apparently considered by some to be in that category.
Tull released
Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! in 1976. It was written as a concept album with a plot involving a retired rock star named Ray Lomas. An aging Lomas wins money on a quiz show, but finds society has changed so much that, with no one left like him, he can't enjoying his money.
Lomas decides to commit suicide via motorcycle crash but fails and ends up in a coma. When he awakens he discovers society has changed and his style of dress and music are popular once again. In addition, the cosmetic surgery he received after disfiguring his face in the crash makes him look 20 years younger. He becomes an overnight sensation with the young kids who now try to dress and act like him.
In his liner notes to the 2002 reissue, Ian Anderson said the story was “based on a late-'50s motorcycle rocker and his living-in-the-past nostalgia for youthful years. Not me, guv, honest,” he wrote.
Critics complained the story was muddled; fans didn’t care much for the album or its story; and
Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll ended up as Tull’s only release from the 70s to not achieve at least gold status
The title track surfaces once in a while on classic rock radio but is too often overlooked in favor of the bigger hits, i.e. “Locomotive Breath” or “Cross-Eyed Mary.” I think “Too Old to Rock and Roll” is one of Tull’s greatest songs, well deserving of its place on a hits collection. It perfectly describes someone who has remained young at heart while everyone around him has grown up, gotten married, and became adults: “He's the last of the blue blood greaser boys / All of his mates are doing time: married with three kids up by the ring road.”
Too Old to Rock and Roll, Too Young to Die.mp3 ~~~~~
(
Can You Go a Little Deeper is an irregularly recurring feature here wherein I resurrect old favorites, lost songs, and other things you maybe haven’t heard in a while)
Labels: classic rock, deep tracks
I've Got A Rock 'n' Roll Heart - If You're Paying For It
For the record, I am not a fan of artists licensing their music to sell things, no matter how unique or prestigious said things may be. There are memories associated with particular songs and I would, for example, just as soon that memory not involve David Caruso.
Which brings up the new
T-Mobile ad starring Eric Clapton. Clapton, of course, is no stranger to whoring out his product: Back in the 80s, Anheuser-Busch used “After Midnight” to sell Michelob beer. I guess the admen didn’t consider the irony there.
I can understand artists seeking sponsorships – I know it costs zillions of dollars to tour and having a large corporation underwrite it can help out. And I suppose if it’s a product the artist truly believes in, why not put your name on it. Or, you can just take Pete Townshend’s attitude and say,
“This is my music, not yours. I sell it wherever I like.” But I don’t get the phone thing. This has gone beyond using a great Clapton song in the advertisement to designing a special Eric Clapton model telephone. According to the T-Mobile Website, it comes “with a classic Fender sunburst-inspired design” and “preloaded with music from Eric Clapton.” I just don’t get it, but then again, I’m not a Techno-Beaver kinda guy. The company I work for has thoughtfully provided me with a pretty lo-tech cell phone and I seem to make do with that. As much as I admire Eric Clapton, and as beautiful as I think the Fender Stratocaster is, I just don’t see the need for a $450 telephone with faux sunburst colors. I can buy a lot of Clapton records with that $450. Hell, I could just about buy a
real Strat for that kind of money. And without the monthly bills from a pain-in-the-ass phone company.
I can see from different things I’ve read that feelings vary widely on the idea of commercial use of classic rock music. Some people think it’s the reality of the times and that it actually helps introduce a new audience to the songs. Others feel the music is sacrosanct and shouldn’t be whored out to the highest bidder. If you care to, drop me a comment and let me know what you think. In the meantime, here’s the song Clapton and T-Mobile are using to hawk this latest gadget.
I’ve Got a Rock ‘n’ Roll Heart.mp3 Labels: clapton, classic rock, guitar heroes
Scorpions Calling It Quits
After more than 40 years, German metal-meisters the Scorpions are calling it quits.
The Scorpions, which Rudolf Schenker formed in Hanover, Germany, in 1965, posted a message on their
Website today announcing the end of the band following their upcoming world tour:
“We are extremely grateful for the fact that we still have the same passion for music we’ve always had since the beginning. This is why, especially now, we agree we have reached the end of the road.”
The Scorpions are wrapping up their eighteenth and final studio album,
Sting In the Tail, which is due out March 19. Their farewell tour kicks off in Moscow on the 15th. Tour dates and streaming snippets from a couple of new songs are on the band’s
MySpace.
I
wrote not long ago about my history as a Scorpions fan, so I won’t bore you again with details. Suffice to say they deserve their place near the top of the metal pantheon.
For today’s music, I’m going to reach all the way back to the Scorpions debut album, 1972’s
Lonesome Crow. This version of “I’m Going Mad” is an alternate take from a German re-release of that disk. Although the Scorps seem to be headed in a Black Sabbath direction, you can hear traces of what would later become their signature sound.
I’m Going Mad (alt version).mp3 It All Depends.mp3 Labels: current events, metal, outtakes
‘Is There Anybody Alive Out There’
I thought I’d pass along part of something I found the other day: A “recording of indeterminate origin” from last year’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction concert.
If you’ll recall, there were shows October 29 and 30 at Madison Square Garden honoring the Rock Hall inductees. The recording I’ve got is from the first night’s show, recorded – in that time-honored method – by someone in the audience. The sound, while obviously not professional quality, isn’t bad. According to the notes that came with the file, this person started the night with a “limited” (read: “no”) view seat in an area that also had terrible sound. He soon “realized it wasn't going to be very good [and] quickly relocated myself to one of the expensive seats and luckily its rightful owner never showed up.”
This enterprising person managed to capture the entire show for posterity, from Tom Hanks’ opening remarks to the Bruce Springsteen-led closing performance of “Higher and Higher.” Rather than repost the whole thing, I decided I’d go with a theme and just repost Springsteen’s portion of the show. This was, to me anyway, the most compelling, with guest performers ranging from John Fogerty to Billy Joel. The only stumble is the version of “London Calling,” which sounds forced. Otherwise, the performances are solid. “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” with guest guitarist Tom Morello, hits the middle ground between Springsteen’s original and Rage’s thrashing cover. There’s also an amazing 12-minute version of “Jungleland.”
Again, this is an audience recording, so the sound isn’t pristine, but it is well listenable and proves beyond a doubt that the E-Street Band is one of the greatest bar bands ever.
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.mp3 Hold On.mp3 ~
with Sam MooreSoul Man.mp3 ~
with Sam MooreThe Ghost of Tom Joad.mp3 ~
with Tom MorelloFortunate Son.mp3 ~
with John FogertyProud Mary.mp3 ~
with John FogertyPretty Woman.mp3 ~
with John FogertyJungleland.mp3 Fine Fine Boy.mp3 ~
with Darlene LoveDa Do Ron Ron.mp3 ~
with Darlene LoveLondon Calling.mp3 ~
with Tom MorelloBadlands.mp3 ~
with Tom MorelloYou May Be Right.mp3 ~
with Billy JoelOnly the Good Die Young.mp3 ~
with Billy JoelNew York State of Mind.mp3 ~
with Billy JoelBorn to Run.mp3 ~
with Billy JoelHigher and Higher.mp3 ~
with ensembleOr, if you're feeling particularly lazy, you can click
here and get the whole thing at one time.
Labels: classic rock, covers, live music, Springsteen
'I Thought This Was Love, But This Ain't Casablanca'
I heard something the other day that I didn’t realize was so seminal. You know I loves me some Australian rawk, but I was not aware of Aussie punks The Saints.
The Saints, who started playing together in 1974, were considered contemporaries of the Ramones, and actually released their debut,
(I’m) Stranded, about six months before
Never Mind The Bollocks came out. Bob Geldof was even once quoted as saying, “Rock music in the Seventies was changed by three bands: the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, and The Saints.”
So how did I not know about The Saints? Who knows. Although once I located their debut disk, some of the songs did sound familiar. Probably I’d heard them and not known who it was. There’s also the possibility that, because the band had relocated to the U.K. by 1977,
(I’m) Stranded got lost in the punk shuffle and never got the acclaim it deserved.
By the time The Saints got ‘round to recording their second album, they had started to move beyond punk, which they already thought was becoming over-hyped and too commercial. “New uniforms; we all look the same,” they would sing.
Subsequent albums would take The Saints in a more blues-rock direction and through just over 20 different members. Chris Bailey is the only one to have been with the band throughout their 36-year history. Various members still reunite with Bailey for the occasional one-off reunion gig, although they haven’t released a new album since 2006.
(I’m) Stranded stands as a punk rock benchmark. Listening to it now, I can’t believe this album came out pre-Pistols. The buzzsaw guitars are 100-percent Stooges / Ramones / pure punk raunch. The Saints’ take on “Kissin’ Cousins” turns it into a sleazy incest fantasy far removed from the hillbilly innocence of Elvis’ original. “Night In Venice,” which was the original album closer, sounds like Night in Seattle as it presages grunge nearly 15 years before the world would hear about Kurt Cobain.
This is truly a remarkable album and is as fresh and vital now as it was 35 years ago. If you, like me, have somehow missed out on it, you need to somehow get hold of it and treat yourself to it.
Kissin’ Cousins.mp3 Night In Venice.mp3 Labels: Australian, covers, punk
Music from My Mailbox
I suppose one advantage in taking so long to clear out my inbox is the large selection to pick from. I’m able to weed through all the “indie” stuff and skim the cream off the top.
A couple of items of note from this purge session: Kandi Coded keeps the Seattle grunge tradition alive on their debut
Fell for the Gift, which is out next month. Check out their amped-up take on Johnny Cash’s tribute to a lost Viet Nam vet, which is just as meaningful now.
In case you weren’t aware, there is a Spinal Tap tribute album floating around (I think you can download it
here for free or voluntary contributions or something.) Lapdance Academy Records founder and Dogs of Winter front man Brian Grosz contributed “Gimme Some Money” to the release.
And of course there’s the almost-obligatory Wolfmother remix track. There were actually three versions in the package I received – this was, in my opinion, the best of the lot.
As always, follow the links for more information.
WolfmotherRock / Psychedelic / Metal
From: Australia
Band
MySpaceWhite Feather (Burns remix).mp3 
Doug KeithRock / Acoustic / Alternative
From: New York, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceThe Lucky Ones.mp3 We Be The EchoProgressive / Experimental / Metal
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band
MySpaceDroid Poem.mp3
PhantogramConcrete / Other / Big Beat
From: Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceWhen I’m Small.mp3 
Kandi CodedRock / Alternative / Grunge
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band
MySpaceDrive On (Johnny Cash cover).mp3 Pierced ArrowsRock / Garage / Punk
From: Portland / Clackamas, Ore.
Band
MySpaceParanoia.mp3 LANTERNS.Punk / Punk / Pop Punk
From: San Diego, Calif.
Band
MySpaceMidnight Psalms.mp3 
Year Long DisasterRock / Rock / Rock
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band
MySpaceShow Me Your Teeth (radio edit).mp3 Brian GroszIndie / Acoustic / Ghettotech
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceGimme Some Money (Spinal Tap cover).mp3 ~~~~~
pictures, top-to-bottom: Doug Keith, Kandi Coded, Year Long DisasterLabels: "alternative", acousticness, electronic, garage rock, grunge, indie, pop-punk, rock
Sodomizado Estas
I was just thinking the other day that I needed more porn in my metal. So it was fortuitous I came across (no pun intended) Sabrina Sabrok.
Argentina born Sabrok began her career as a model, appearing in Spanish language ads for companies such as Harley Davidson, Diesel Jeans, and Volkswagen. She formed her first band, Primeras Impresiones, in 1996. The band – or possibly Sabrina herself – managed to catch the attention of Marilyn Manson and they landed an opening spot for his 1997 Argentinean shows.
Although the band plays the kind of industrial metal (or cyberpunk, as Sabrok calls it) that appeals to fans of Manson, their singer is probably more infamous for other aspects of her, um,
personality.
Sabrina is reportedly chasing the goal of having the world’s largest breasts. Her
Website claims she sports 59XXX-sized boobs.
Chickipedia, however, puts her at 40 inches (no cup size given). Just in case you were wondering, the Guinness record holder for largest breasts is
Sheyla Hershey, with a 38KKK bust.
And – if that wasn’t enough – Sabrina has a whole other career as an S&M model. Check that out
here (warning: link NSFW).
To summarize, Sabrina Sabrok fronts an industrial metal band, has breasts that are among the top five largest in the world, and has her own porn site. By now you’re thinking there’s no way this woman can do anything else. Well, you’d be thinking wrong. Sabrina is also a Spanish language TV star, having appeared in the Mexican edition of Big Brother. She also currently hosts her own television show called
Sabrina, El Sexo en su Máxima Expresión.
Her latest album, released last year on Sabrina Sabrok Records, is titled
Antisocial. Sabrina’s vocals bring to mind the snarl of Wendy O. Williams while the heavily synthesized industrial metal makes for a 21st century version of the Plasmatics – maybe what they would have become. Both of the songs below are from
Antisocial.
One other thing about Sabrina’s music: She emphasizes that you
should not pay for it. Everything is available for free download from her
site. The music site, not the porn site.
Antisocial.mp3 Rata de Dos Patas.mp3 Labels: industrial, metal
'Somethin' Ya Can't Tell Your Mother'
I had some doubts about posting today’s music, because I just found it last week on another blog. Then I thought, well, if you can reblog things on tumblr, you can reblog things here. I’ll post a couple of songs here, and then send you to OP for more info.
Toronto, along with New York and London, was at the forefront of the original late 70s punk scene. Three September 1976 concerts by the Ramones kicked off the Canadian movement. The joke was that 1,200 people went to see the Ramones play, then they all went out and started bands.
The Curse were formed during that flurry of activity. One of North America’s first all girl punk bands, they supposedly got together as part of a challenge to form a band to open for another band. Within a year, they were playing CBGB as part of a Canadian punk bill.
Probably their most infamous moment came with the release of the “Shoeshine Boy” single. The song was about 12-year-old
Emmanuel Jacques, who was raped and murdered after being kidnapped in mid-July 1977 off of Toronto’s then-sleazy Yonge Street district. Jacques was working on the street shining shoes. The band sparked additional controversy by sending copies of the single to the boy’s murderers in prison.
So, check these couple of songs, then get over to the
Model Citizen, Zero Discipline blog for the complete story of The Curse and some more of their music.
Shoeshine Boy.mp3 Somethin’ Ya Can’t Tell Your Mother.mp3 Labels: punk
Artie Lange....
It’s a weird thing with celebrities. Some of them you see or hear so much of that you could almost regard them as someone you know.
That’s kind of the way I think of the members of the Howard Stern show. The Stern show is unique in that, while they are celebrities of sorts, they also have five hours of airtime to fill each day. To fill the time around the guests, it seems little is off limits for discussion. I know Howard’s new cat is named Apple. I know about JD’s huge pimple. I know everyone thinks Benji fingered his date at the office Christmas party. I know more about the Stern show staffers than I know about some of the people
I work with.
Still, it was a shock this morning to turn the radio on and hear that Artie Lange had been hospitalized. Artie has been on indefinite leave from the show since mid-December, with Howard being uncustomarily tight-lipped about the reason for Artie’s absence. I assumed Artie’s absence had to do with his mental health. Last year he took several days off as he dealt with depression over having lived past the age at which his father died.
When I heard Artie had been hospitalized this past weekend, I assumed it was drug-related. I never would have imagined it was because he had
tried to take his own life. But the
New York Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that Artie had “landed in the hospital after stabbing himself nine times in an apparent suicide attempt.”
It’s a weird thing with celebrities. I don’t know Artie Lange at all, but I’ve heard him talk about so much of his life that I could almost regard him as someone I know. My thoughts are with Artie and his family.
Darkness on the Edge of Town.mp3
*Picture note: This was taken at Artie’s book signing just after “Too Fat to Fish” was released last year. Neither of us are looking particularly spectacular....Labels: classic rock, current events, Springsteen
Madame Pamita's Parlor of Wonders
Performance artiste Madame Pamita one-ups Jack White for minimalization on her latest release,
Madame Pamita's Wax Works. The erstwhile Pamela Moore recorded the album directly onto a
wax cylinder, giving her music a sound that hearkens back to the turn of the
last century.
The songs are a lo-fi, bare bones antithesis of the slick, overproduced music we’re usually forced to swallow, complete with enough pops and clicks to make you think you’ve accidentally put on one of your grandfather’s old 78s. But while she has taken an extreme retro approach to recording, Madame Pamita puts a modern edge on it by singing about the virtues of sex, drugs, and the power of positive thinking.
Madame Pamita and Peter Dilg spent two days last year recording the 13 songs on this album, “using absolutely no electricity during the process... what you hear is the recording exactly as it was performed, with the same vitality and exciting recklessness of the early days of reproduced sound.”
Madame Pamita live is a combination old-time medicine show and musical performance. She tells fortunes, does tarot readings, and plays a mix of rural blues, jug band, and proto-jazz songs, both original and traditional.
You can download her album at a name-your-own-price cost from her
Website (I’m sure the irony’s not lost on her). There are also several other performances you can download for free.
While you’re at her site, there is an interactive talking spirit board page. Ask a question and the spirits will give you the answer. Apparently I will have no romantic luck again this year. And if interactive Web pages aren’t enough, you can also contact Madame Pamita through her site and arrange a personal reading.
The first song, a version of Blind Willie McTell’s “Your Southern Can is Mine,” was traditionally recorded – it’s from a session at KXLU. The second is an example of the
Wax Works style. Check this stuff out, particularly “He’s in the Jailhouse Now.” It’s very cool in how retro and minimal it is.
My Southern Can is Mine.mp3 He’s In the Jailhouse Now.mp3 Labels: folk
Avalon Calendar Jams: The Blues Project
If you think back to 2008, you’ll recall that I made a series of posts based on artists featured on a blues calendar I was using that year. I thought that was pretty interesting; it introduced me to some new music, and, judging by the hits I got for those posts, most of you seemed to enjoy it as well.
Last year I used a Spanish language scenic view calendar so, unfortunately, I wasn’t really able to do anything related to my purpose here. My 2010 calendar, though, is a collection of posters from the heyday of San Francisco’s Avalon Ballroom, so I thought I’d return with a similar series of posts
A very brief history of the Avalon: The place was originally built in 1911 as the Colin Traver Academy of Dance. In April 1966 Chet Helms and Family Dog Productions, along with Robert E. Cohen, reopened the building as the Avalon Ballroom, where local bands such as the Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Steve Miller Band performed in the 500-person capacity ballroom. Janis Joplin supposedly made her first public appearance at the Avalon in June 1966.
To advertise these gigs, Cohen and Helms hired artists such as Rick Griffin, Wes Wilson, and Stanley Mouse to create posters. Over time, of course, these posters would become classics of the genre. Hence my 2010 calendar.
January’s poster, done by Wilson, advertises an April 1966 three-night stand by the Blues Project and the Great Society. A quick Wes Wilson bio: Born in 1937, he attended school at San Francisco State, but dropped out in 1963. His very first published poster was a swastika within an American flag motif, a protest of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Living in San Francisco, Wilson was part of the scene there and soon began making handbills for the San Francisco Mime Troup and the Merry Pranksters. He eventually also began making posters for Helms, which would lead to his being involved with Family Dog Productions and creating promotional posters for the Avalon.
Wilson is generally credited with developing the design that is now known as the psychedelic poster. His style of filling all available space with lettering, creating fluid forms from letters, and using flowing letters to create shapes became the standard that most psychedelic artists followed. (For more information about Wilson, including how to purchase some of his work, click over to his
Website.)
The Blues Project, which is the main subject of this month’s poster, had a lifespan about the same as that of the Avalon Ballroom (the Avalon would close in November 1968). They formed in 1965 and split in 1967. Most of the original members were – or would become – renowned session men: Danny Kalb, Al Kooper, Steve Katz, Tommy Flanders, Andy Kulberg, and Roy Blumenfeld.
Projections, the band’s second album – and first studio album – was also the last with the original members. Kooper left after that release, followed in quick succession by Katz and Kalb.
During their life, the Blues Project garnered a reputation as a jam band; some critics would even refer to them as New York’s answer to the Grateful Dead. The
Projections album featured an 11-minute version of “Two Trains Running,” which showcased their improvisational tendencies. I’ve got that song for you today, as well as a lesser-known song called “Cheryl’s Going Home.” The reason I picked “Cheryl” is because I originally heard that song performed by “rock and roll’s greatest failure,”
John Otway. Take my word for it; his version is drastically different from the Blues Projects’.
Two Trains Running.mp3 Cheryl’s Going Home.mp3 Labels: blues, classic rock
'Last Night On Earth'
I kinda-sorta remember seeing Green Day play live on some New Year’s countdown show a couple of nights ago. What continues to impress me is the power of the band in a live setting. While the albums have become increasingly grown up (I’m not saying that’s a bad thing – how many more songs about masturbation do we really need?), Green Day live are still the sneering kids we loved 15 years ago.
A couple of months ago Green Day dropped a Japan-only live EP,
Last Night On Earth (Live In Tokyo), that pulls in some of that live energy and offers a brief career retrospective. The six-song disk opens with “21st Century Breakdown” and finishes a quick 20 minutes later with “Geek Stink Breath.” When I looked at the track list, I thought it might be strange to hear the new “adult” stuff alongside hits from
Dookie. Funny enough, it wasn’t. It all fit together nicely.
Since this is an official release, I’m not going to post the whole EP. It saw release in the U.S. as an import last month, so I’m sure you can find the whole thing if you try.
Last of the American Girls.mp3 Basket Case.mp3 Labels: imports, live albums, punk
'White Men In Hammersmith Odeon'
Happy New Year!
I haven’t posted any live music in a while and it seems the new year would be a good time to get back into the habit. I had tried to plan this as a New Year’s Eve post, but other activities got in the way.
I picked this particular performance from the Clash because of its date. I was looking for an NYE performance and this December 27 show is the closest I could find. It’s actually from the 1979
Concerts for the People of Kampuchea benefit show. The Clash appeared along with Ian Dury and Matumbi on the second night. There is an official album from the four-day event, but only one Clash song, “Armagideon Time,” made its way onto that release. For the sake of my sanity, I’m not gonna post that here (although savvy readers may find a “bonus” track in the RapidShare DL).
A bit o’ background: The Clash had toured America in September and October of 1979, where they previewed some songs from the-then-unreleased
London Calling LP. With that album fresh in the shops by the Kampuchea show, songs from it were much more prominent in the set list. Also of note is a revved-up ska-like version of “Bankrobber,” different from the soon-to-be-released single, which was more in the reggae style of its inspiration, Max Romeo’s “Public Enemy Number One.”
Clash City Rockers.mp3 Brand New Cadillac.mp3 Safe European Home.mp3 Jimmy Jazz.mp3 Clampdown.mp3 The Guns of Brixton.mp3 Train In Vain.mp3 Wrong ‘em Boyo.mp3 Koka Kola.mp3 White Man in Hammersmith Palais.mp3 Stay Free.mp3 Bankrobber.mp3 Janie Jones.mp3 Complete Control.mp3 Armagideon Time
London Calling.mp3 or – get it all in one shot
here.
Labels: live music, punk, the Clash
“Too Old to Rock and Roll, Too Young to Die” isn’t, by the strictest sense, a deep track. Actually the version I’m posting comes from one of two Jethro Tull greatest hits collections I have, so it’s apparently considered by some to be in that category.
Critics complained the story was muddled; fans didn’t care much for the album or its story; and Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll ended up as Tull’s only release from the 70s to not achieve at least gold status
