‘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
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
Down the Holiday Trail, pt. I
Ten days before Christmas and 10 days since my last post seems like a good mid-point and a good place to jump up on the holiday song bandwagon.
I’m going to take it a little easier on myself this year than I did last year and post just a few random songs a day, every other day until Christmas Day. Then I’ll do a massive Christmas song dump – haha, just kidding.
I’ve picked up a couple of new things since last year, but for the most part, these are holiday standards we all know and love. From today’s post, one of the new things for me is the Flirtations’ “Christmastime is Here Again,” which I found when I was looking the other day for “Nothing But a Heartache.” A beautiful version by a woefully underappreciated 60’s “girl group.” The other song I just recently found is the Boss’ version of “Blue Christmas,” a live version that I think was recorded in December 2000.
So, settle down, put another log on the fire – or, if you’re in someplace like Miami, turn the air conditioning a little lower – and let’s all get in the holiday spirit.
Run Rudolph Run.mp3 ~ Keith Richards
Blue Christmas (live).mp3 ~ Bruce Springsteen
Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight).mp3 ~ Ramones
Christmas Time is Here Again.mp3 ~ The Flirtations
Silent Night / Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis.mp3 ~ Tom Waits
Labels: acousticness, holiday, live music, punk, Springsteen
The 12 Days of Xmas (day 11)
On the eleventh day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Excellent – Christmas Eve....
This second-to-last holiday post is pretty much just an unrelated clumping of things that I wanted to post but couldn’t fit in elsewhere.
Christmas Baby (Please Come Home).mp3 ~ The Raveonettes
iPod Xmas.mp3 ~ Hello Saferide
I’ll be Home for Christmas.mp3 ~ Twisted Sister (f. Lita Ford)
Happy Xmas (War is Over).mp3 ~ John Lennon
Snow.mp3 ~ Claudine Longet
Run Rudolph Run.mp3 ~ Chuck Berry
Merry Christmas Baby.mp3 ~ James Brown
O Holy Night.mp3 ~ Red Letter Agent
Santa Claus is Coming to Town.mp3 ~ Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
White Christmas.mp3 ~ Stiff Little Fingers
Santa Claus and His Old Lady.mp3 ~ Cheech & Chong
Labels: holiday, Springsteen
I Want! I Want! I Want!
Oh, I feel old today. I went out last night to see Mudhoney and got home way late. Or way early this morning, depending how you look at it. Great show – I’ll talk a little more about it in the days to come. But I’m tired as hell today.
In the meantime, I’ve got what would seem at first glance to be an unrelated mix of music. I was looking for a song in my iTunes library and noticed something amusing as I scrolled through the I’s: Song after song with the words “I Want” in the title. I want, I want to, I wanna. And I didn’t even look for gimmes. I got a little laugh out of all that and thought I’d share some unrepentant greed with you this evening.
I know this is a far-from-complete collection. Even as I wrote this, I thought of probably another half-dozen songs that would qualify for this post. These are just the 10 that happened to be in iTunes.
I Want You (Bob Dylan cover).mp3 Bruce SpringsteenI Want You to Want Me.mp3 Cheap TrickI Want to be Wrong.mp3 No Use for a NameI Want to be the Boy, take 2 (White Stripes cover).mp3 Chan MarshallI Wanna Fuck You.mp3 The PonysI Wanna be Your Dog (live Stooges cover).mp3 REM and Patti SmithI Wanna be Where the Boys Are.mp3 The RunawaysI Wanna Kill You.mp3 GG AllinI Wanna be an Alcoholic.mp3 Chachi on AcidI Wanna be Your Dog (live).mp3 Iggy and the StoogesLabels: classic rock, covers, live music, punk, rock, Springsteen
Danny Federici: 1950 – 2008
I was heading out this afternoon to see Bruce Springsteen in Ft. Lauderdale, but the show has been postponed following the death yesterday of E Street keyboardist Danny Federici. I’m disappointed, but I certainly can understand, and I look forward to the rescheduled date. (Tomorrow’s show in Orlando has also been postponed.)
Federici, the E Street Band's organist and keyboard player for 40 years, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City after a three-year battle with melanoma.
“Danny and I worked together for 40 years,” Bruce said in a post on the band’s
Web site. “He was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much...we grew up together.”
It was Federici, along with original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez, who first invited Springsteen to join their band.
Federici announced last November that he was taking a leave of absence from the band to pursue treatment for melanoma and was temporarily replaced by Charles Giordano. He made his only return to the stage on Mar. 20 when he appeared for portions of an E Street Band performance at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Federici family and the E Street band request that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund. The link will be posted soon on the band Web site linked above.
I was going to post a variety of live Springsteen songs today as a prelude to tonight’s show, and I think I still will. I’m also including the studio version of “Hungry Heart,” one of several songs where Federici’s organ playing takes center stage.
Traveling Band (CCR cover).mp3 Live at the Stone Pony – Aug. 22, 1984I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide (ZZ Top cover).mp3 Live at the Stone Pony – Aug. 22, 1984Drift Away (Dobie Gray cover).mp3 Live in Memphis – Dec. 14, 1984Adam Raised a Cain.mp3 Asbury Rehearsals – Apr. 24/26, 2006Cadillac Ranch.mp3 Asbury Rehearsals – Apr. 24/26, 2006I Want You (Bob Dylan cover).mp3 Live at The Main Point (Bryn Mawr, PA) – Feb. 5, 1975Hungry Heart.mp3 from The River
Note: I gathered these songs from a number of sources, so thanks to the original posters. Labels: covers, current events, live music, Springsteen
South Florida hates Bruce
BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Springsteen tickets sell out fast
With more than 20 tickets per second sold, Springsteen broke the record set by Oasis in 2005 for selling out the Odyssey. ...
Extra Springsteen gig tickets sell out in 8 hours - Bruce Springsteen
According to event promoters, Doctor Music, 72000 tickets for a Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band concert at the Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona on the ...
Springsteen On Fire In N.J.: 15 Gigs Sell Out In One Day ...
Fans of Bruce Springsteen didn't balk at the $37.50-$67.50 ticket prices for his tour with the E Street Band, snapping up every ticket Saturday for 15 July ...
Based on the above responses to a Google search for information on Bruce Springsteen ticket sales, you would have plenty of reason to think I screwed up. Tickets for Springsteen’s April 2008 show in Ft. Lauderdale went on sale yesterday morning. I totally spaced it – I had some work stuff to do and completely forgot.
I woke up this morning and thought, “Oh shit!” I figured that outside of StubHub, there would be no way I’d get tickets. But, leave it to South Florida. I logged onto TicketMaster this morning and not only got tickets, but decent seats as well.
I don’t know whether to be disgusted at the people who didn’t buy tickets too fast for me to get mine, or to be happy they’re ignorant. In the end, I suppose it doesn’t matter.
Here’s some music from a 2002 show Bruce and the E Street Band did for MTV. Other than the fact this was recorded outside in New York City and it seemed to have been raining, I couldn’t find much information about the show. To the best of my knowledge, it was not released commercially.
The Rising.mp3 Lonesome Day.mp3 Waitin’ on a Sunny Day.mp3 Darkness on the Edge of Town.mp3 Meet Me at Mary’s Place / Band Introductions.mp3 Thunder Road.mp3 My City of Ruin.mp3 Dancing in the Dark.mp3 Ramrod.mp3 Born to Run.mp3Labels: live music, rock, Springsteen, upcoming shows
9/11
My City of Ruin (live).mp3 Bruce Springsteen, from
America: A Tribute to HeroesLabels: current events, live albums, Springsteen
"Radio Nowhere" and some other thoughts
I was in one of those chain record stores yesterday, and I have to admit a strange emotion came over me: I was sad. I remember in high school how much I
loved going to the record store and looking at new releases and through the old stuff and spending my allowance as fast as I could get it, just buying music.
As I looked through the generic bins of this generic store, for the first time it really hit me that the record store is dead.
Old news, you say.
I know, but yesterday was when the truth of that statement hit home. There was nothing in that store I could even feign an interest in. It doesn’t matter where you get your music – from iTunes or a similar service, or even somewhere in the gray area of legal. The point is that it doesn’t matter
what style of music you want, it’s a couple of keystrokes away. If I looked around a little, I could probably even find music by Miami-area rock bands. If I go to the Virgin Mega-Store, it’s doubtful they’d have any local music (oh, wait – the Virgin store is now a boarded up window front in the mall. Damn!).
I guess at this point, there’s nothing the chains can do. Maybe we’ll see record stores go back to mom- and-pop ran places that feature local music and hard-to-find items. I’ll still browse a used-record store, but before yesterday, I’d be hard-pressed to tell you the last time I was in a chain music store.
Moving on....
I also learned yesterday (it was a busy day for me) that UK newspaper
The Guardian is offering for free download “Radio Nowhere,” the first single from Bruce Springsteen’s upcoming album
Magic. The Boss’ first release with the E Street Band since 2002 is due for U.S. release Oct. 2.
“Radio Nowhere” is also available from
iTunes, where for $8.99 you can pre-order
Magic while you’re there.
Here’s the track list for
Magic:
1. Radio Nowhere.mp3
2. You'll Be Comin’ Down
3. Livin’ in the Future
4. Your Own Worst Enemy
5. Gypsy Biker
6. Girls in Their Summer Clothes
7. I'll Work for Your Love
8. Magic
9. Last to Die
10. Long Walk Home
11. Devil’s Arcade
And if you go to
Bruce Springsteen.net, there is more information about the record and the upcoming tour, which kicks off in Hartford, Conn., the same day the record comes out. No Florida dates scheduled....
Labels: new stuff, Springsteen
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. 
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.” 
