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mmmmmmmm-goooooooood

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Garcia & Saunders: Keystone Companions (The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings)

The recordings that made up the original Live at Keystone albums by Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, John Kahn, and Bill Vitt took place over two nights in July of 1973. The band had been playing a regular gig at the famed San Francisco venue for some time, but it was here that it gelled. Their program was a wide range of covers from Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come†to Motown numbers, Bob Dylan songs, jazz standards, and even a wholly improvised jam. Recorded by the Grateful Dead’s sound engineers Betty Cantor and Rex Jackson, the first release was issued in late 1973, compiled from the “best†of both nights. In 1988, two volumes called Keystone Encores were released on three discs. This deluxe four-disc package contains remastered versions of all the material from both those concerts presented in original running order. In restores the three-and-a-half-minute jam “Space†with the full, nearly 14-minute version, now entitled “Merl’s Tune.†In addition, there are six more previously unreleased selections. All are different takes of songs that were featured on the earlier sets, including “The Harder They Come,†“It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,†“My Funny Valentine,†“Merl’s Tune,†“How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You),†and “Someday Baby.†Taking it all in, it’s fascinating to hear how complementary Garcia and Saunders were, and the degree to which they trusted one another in moving a set arrangement in another direction on the spot. Contrast the two versions of “My Funny Valentine.†On the latter one, Saunders shifts tonalities from a straight, subdued reading toward a more modal and exploratory one. Garcia responds by extending the tune’s entire harmonic reach. The rhythm section, too, is unshakable — check their astonishing interplay and shifting time signatures on the first version of “Merl’s Tune.†There are many surprises to be found here, not the least of which is the remastered sound by Paul Blakemore, who retained the atmosphere that made the original recordings so appealing. His attention to detail in dynamics, textures, and presence is noteworthy. This box also includes a poster, a pin, a coaster, and a “scratch book†— it seems matchbooks are no longer allowed. The definitive presentation of these recordings underscores what a historic — if low-key — partnership this was. The music, by any standard, is simply excellent. - Thom Jurek

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Tracklist

Disc I:

01. Hi-Heel Sneakers 8:14

02. Keepers (Previously Unreleased Take) 7:54

03. The Harder They Come 6:23

04. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Previously Unreleased Take) 6:21

05. It’s Too Late (She’s Gone) 7:47

06. My Funny Valentine (Previously Unreleased Take) 18:14

07. Mystery Train 11:37

Disc II:

01. I Second That Emotion 10:59

02. Someday Baby 10:15

03. Merl’s Tune 13:34

04. It Ain’t No Use 9:36

05. Positively 4th Street 7:45

06. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) (Previously Unreleased Take) 8:09

Disc III:

01. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry 7:06

02. Keepers 6:34

03. One Kind Favor 6:39

04. That’s All Right, Mama 4:11

05. The Harder They Come (Previously Unreleased Take) 10:09

06. My Funny Valentine 18:05

07. Money Honey 8:21

Disc IV:

01. Someday Baby (Previously Unreleased Take) 10:15

02. Merl’s Tune (Previously Unreleased Take) 12:21

03. Like A Road Leading Home 11:02

04. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) 10:20

Personnel:

Jerry Garcia - Guitar, Vocals

Merl Saunders - Keyboards (Organ, Piano, Clavinet, Synthesizers)

John Kahn - Bass

Bill Vitt - Drums

David Grisman - Mandolin (on “Positively 4th Streetâ€)

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I FINALLY got around to watching the fantastic documentary Texas Thunder Soul about the fantastic stage bands that came out of Kashmere HS in the 70s. It's a touching, and musically inspiring, doc and I highly recommend it:

Here are the preserved recordings of the band that just blow me away. A bunch of teenagers with this much talent, drive, FUNK AND SOUL!!!!!!

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Kashmere Stage Band - Texas Thunder Soul (1968-1974)

“In Houston, Texas, Conrad O. Johnson pursued a lofty goal with his stage band at Kashmere High School, a predominantly black school located in the city’s north end (referred to in Houston as “Kashmere Gardensâ€). He wanted to lead not only the best high school stage band in Texas, but the best high school stage band in the world. Our opinion is that he succeeded, and we’re thankful that he thoroughly documented his band’s progress, so that we can present to you the Kashmere Stage Band’s musical legacy.

In the mid ’60s through the ’70s, in Houston’s bustling metropolis, Johnson (known by many as “Prof.â€) made a career of producing leagues of musicians capable of playing competitively with any band in the nation, professional or otherwise. More than simply a product of the big band era (his childhood friends and early musical peers included legends like Illinois Jacquet and Arnette Cobb), Johnson bestowed a living history to his young students. And while many band directors simply tolerated the use of popular rhythms in their stage bands, Johnson embraced the funk movement that enveloped his kids. He encouraged composition – both by writing original funk songs for his band to perform and by allowing the Kashmere Band to play songs written by band members.

Never one to succumb to novelty, Johnson didn’t simply throw funk beats beneath a jazz song to please his kids. He instructed his band to play funk because he respected the funk idiom in the same way he respected jazz. Nor did he simply borrow charts from progressive big banders such as Herman, as was common amongst high school bandleaders from the era. He arranged nearly every one of his band’s songs himself, and those that he didn’t arrange he allowed his students to arrange. He worked year-round with his eager charges, constantly pushing the limits as to what their band could accomplish. He built the Kashmere Stage Band from scratch and his winning combination of powerful funk rhythms beneath expertly executed jazz solos quickly influenced those bandleaders directly within his sphere and those he met – and almost always bested – in competitions across the world.†- http://www.nowagainrecords.com

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Tracklist

CD 1:

01. Boss City

02. Burning Spear

03. Take Five

04. Super Bad

05. Keep Doing It

06. Thunder Soul

07. Do You Dig It, Man?

08. Headwiggle

09. Do Your Thing **

10. Scorpio **

11. Thank You **

12. Al’s Tune

13. All Praises

14. Shaft

15. Kashmere

16. $$ Kash Register $$

17. Zero Point – Parts 1 & 2 (45 Version) *

18. Getting It Out of My System

CD 2:

LIVE RECORDINGS (all previously unreleased):

01. Intro

02. Zero Point

03. All Praises / Zero Point (Reprise)

04. Intro

05. Do You Dig It, Man?

06. Don’t Mean a Thing

07. Thank You

08. Ain’t No Sunshine

09. Do You Dig It, Man?

10. All Praises

ALTERNATE TAKES:

11. Thank You (45 Version)

12. Zero Point (LP Version)

13. Do Your Thing (Instrumental)

14. Getting It Out of My System *

* previously unreleased

** previously unissued extended version

Researched & compiled by Eothen ‘Egon’ Alapatt

Original recordings produced & arranged by Conrad O. Johnson

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gotta love Bettye. See her live if you ever get the chance. One of the most powerful voices I have ever experienced live.

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Bettye LaVette – Thankful N’ Thoughtful

When most other artists do them, they’re cover versions. But when Bettye LaVette does them, they’re “interpretationsâ€, such is her talent for getting inside a song and extracting a depth of soul and meaning that might even surprise the original artists.

In 2010, LaVette put out a collection of renovated British rock numbers. And now it’s the American songbook’s turn, with the notable exception of Ewan MacColl’s Dirty Old Town. It’s here in two versions, of differing intensity, the first being the deepest southern soul that is LaVette’s stock in trade. But the ‘slow version’ is all about a muffled drum riff and minimal guitars, pushing the narrative forward and giving the song new poignancy.

Her ability and experience is so great that when this selection of songs is reworked into the kind of southern soul meets contemporary blues she does so gloriously, it’s only Dirty Old Town and The Black Keys’ I’m Not the One that stay within expected parameters. Elsewhere, she finds room to stir in other flavours.

Dylan’s Everything Is Broken is appropriately grumbling, livened up (barely) by a few guitar twiddles into gutsy blues-rock. Yesterday Is Here (Tom Waits) takes her to New Orleans and the roots of jazz, while surging organ and delicate guitar work in Time Will Do the Talking (Patty Griffin) transforms it from gentle acoustic to the best Memphis soul Willie Mitchell had nothing to do with. Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy gets the same treatment and almost hits those heights.

Neil Young’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere takes on a country tinge, and Sly Stone’s title track becomes an intriguingly noodling blues-rocker. Elsewhere, Fair Enough (Beth Nielsen Chapman) is blues as it was perceived in the mid-1970s, Albert King-style.

It’s a marvellous, spine-tingling journey around some not-so-obvious American songs, and also a stunning tutorial in different American music styles, strung together by LaVette’s sensuous singing. With each of her albums improving on the last, Thankful N’ Thoughtful continues the upward curve. It is, possibly, the best set of songs she’s ever recorded. - BBC

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Tracklist

1. Everything is Broken (Bob Dylan)

2. I’m Not the One (Daniel Auerbach/Patrick Carney)

3. Dirty Old Town (Ewan MacColl)

4. The More I Search (The More I Die) (Kim McLean)

5. I’m Tired (Chris Youlden)

6. Crazy (Brian Burton/Thomas Callaway/Gian Piero Reverberi/Gian Franco Reverberi )

7. Yesterday Is Here (Tom Waits)

8. Thankful N’ Thoughtful (Sly & The Family Stone)

9. Fair Enough (Beth Nielsen Chapman)

10. Time Will Do the Talking (Patty Griffin)

11. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (Neil Young)

12. Dirty Old Town* (slow version)

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Can't wait to see Neil again next month. NOTHING like Neil with the Horse.

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Neil Young & Crazy Horse - 2012-09-29 Central Park, New York City

The headliner was Neil Young with Crazy Horse, the band that has perfected rock as a primordial stomp.

Mr. Young’s set was molten and unkempt, yet it had his own kind of finesse. He and Crazy Horse, on their first tour since 2004, often huddled near the center of the stage, bobbing back and forth until their heads nearly touched, and their songs sometimes welled up out of a caldron of drone and distortion.

But Mr. Young’s voice was pure and precise, and his lead guitar could peal with straightforward melodies, or scrabble with frenetic intensity, or plunge to grapple with subterranean forces. The set included three songs from Mr. Young’s next album, “Psychedelic Pill,†due Oct. 30, and they were openly autobiographical.

“Walk Like a Giant†was also a pithy eulogy for 1960s idealism: “We were ready to save the world,†Mr. Young sang. “Then the weather changed and the white got stained and it fell apart/And it breaks my heart to think about how close we came.†It ended with blast after slow blast of the closing chord, dozens of times, turning into slabs of abstract noise. - NYT

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Tracklist

1. Love And Only Love

2. Powderfinger

3. Born In Ontario

4. Walk Like A Giant

5. The Needle And The Damage Done

6. Twisted Road

7. F*!#in’ Up

8. Rockin’ In The Free World (w/Dave Grohl and Dan Auerbach)

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