All posts by Hallgeir

Country, Music Calendar

Today: Jerry Jeff Walker is 72 Happy Birthday

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“the first time I set foot in Texas, particularly in Austin, I knew I was home.”

Jerry Jeff Walker was born March 16, 1942 (in upstate New York) he is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is associated with the “outlaw” country scene that centered around Austin, TX, in the 1970s.

“Mr. Bojangles”  is perhaps his most well-known and most-often covered song, written for his debut album in 1968.

Walker was a hard drinker throughout much of his early career (his nickname was “Jacky Jack”), and this reputation became part of his identity. He’s since cleaned up his act,  in part thanks to his wife, Susan, whom he married in 1974. He has continued to record into the ’00s.

His best known album, it is also his best by the way,  is Viva Terlingua, recorded in 1973 in Luckenbach, Texas  with the Lost Gonzo Band. The album went gold, and it’s still his best-selling record. His 70s output especially are highly regarded, sadly none of these albums are available on Spotify.

Happy Birthday  Jerry Jeff Walker!

Mr. Bojangles:

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Beatles, List, The Best Songs

The Beatles 40 best songs: at 26 “If I fell”

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“That’s my first attempt at a ballad proper….It shows that I wrote sentimental love ballads way back when”
– John Lennon (1980)

“People forget that John wrote some nice ballads, people tend to think of him as an acerbic wit and aggressive and abrasive, but he did have a very warm side to him, really, which he didn’t like to show too much in case he got rejected.”
– Paul McCartney

“If I Fell”  by The Beatles  first appeared in 1964 on the album A Hard Day’s Night in the United Kingdom and on the North American album Something New. It was mainly written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. 

Musically, it was one of Lennon’s cleverest songs to date: The harmonic tricks of its strummy, offbeat opening were miles beyond what other bands were doing at the time, and it was “dripping with chords,” as McCartney said. It also showcased some of the Beatles’ finest singing. Lennon and McCartney shared a single microphone for their Everly Brothers-like close harmonies.

“[‘If I Fell’] was the precursor to ‘In My Life,'” Lennon pointed out later. “It has the same chord sequences: D and B minor and E minor, those kind of things. It shows that I wrote sentimental love ballads, silly love songs, way back when.”

– Rolling Stone Magazine

…by the way, Rolling Stone Magazine rate the song at 26 of the hundred best Beatles songs.

Continue reading The Beatles 40 best songs: at 26 “If I fell” →

Blues, Bob Dylan, Cover versions, Jazz, Rock

Videos of the day: Govt Mule covers All Along The Watchtower

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All along the watchtower must be one of the most covered songs Bob Dylan has ever written, and there are some good ones, and yes, also the greatest cover of them all. Jimi Hendrix made it his own and Dylan even altered his way of playing the song after hearing Jimi’s version, or so the story goes…

The three takes we are going to present today are very different, very jazz-tinged and very good!

The first is from Mountain Jam 2009 with Karl Denson on Saxophone, he does a tremendous job! Warren Haynes’s guitar is equally impressing in this 13 minute masterpiece.

Gov’t Mule – All Along The Watchtower (2009):

“For nearly three decades, legendary saxophonist Karl Denson has been getting crowds around the world out on the dance floor. Approaching iconic status, Denson has moved bodies and minds dating back to his earliest years with Lenny Kravitz’s band through his ongoing tenure as a founding member of seminal boogaloo revivalists The Greyboy Allstars and his current roll as a member of San Diego dub rockers Slightly Stoopid. Nowhere, however, is this more apparent than with his own band, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. Touring relentlessly for the past 15 years and leaving a massive audience in his wake.”
– Karl Denson’s Facebook page

Our second choice is recorded Dec 16th 2006 at the Warren Haynes 18th Annual Christmas Jam. We get a groovy take with Gov’t Mule, Dave Matthews and Branford Marsalis. Warren’s playing is even better than in the first video.

Gov’t Mule – All Along The Watchtower (2006):

Our last version is an audience recording, but very lively and close to the band. Members of The Sanctuary Blues  joined Govt Mule’s 1st 10-year anniversary Concert at the Township Auditorium in Columbia, SC 02.06.2014. The sax solo is switched for fantastic trumpet and trombone solos.

Gov’t Mule – All Along The Watchtower (2014):

What a soulful voice Warren Haynes has!

– Hallgeir

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan other, Cover versions

The Avett Brothers plays Bob Dylan

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The Avett Brothers from Concord, North Carolina is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett (banjo) and Seth Avett (guitar), as well as Bob Crawford (double bass) and Joe Kwon (cello). Mike Marsh (drums) and Paul Delfigia (keyboard) are touring members of the band, with Kwon featured on recordings from 2007’s Emotionalism and later.

I saw them at Oya Festival in Oslo a few years ago, a great concert.

The Avett Brothers have spent much of the past decade nurturing their skill as songwriters, along with their skills as vocalists and musicians. That said, most of their shows include very fine cover songs. I have dug up some fine interpretations of Bob Dylan songs.

The Avett Brothers talk about their favorite album: Bob Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks”:

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The Avett Brothers pull out a Bob Dylan cover in Columbus, OH @ Lifestyles Communities Pavilion 5/19/2012.

The Avett Brothers – The Man in Me:

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Cover versions, Motorpsycho, Video, video of the day

Video of the day: Motorpsycho covers Stay Young by Gallagher and Lyle

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Last night I saw an incredible cover version of Gallagher & Lyle’s 70s hit Stay Young at the Norwegian talk show, Trygdekontoret (“Social Services”). Trygdekontoret is hosted by Thomas Seltzer (“Happy Tom”), bass player and songwriter in Turbonegro, and every program has musical guests doing a cover song, often a great one!

Last night it had one of the best I’ve seen on the show, Motorpsycho played Stay Young. Stay Young is written by the Scottish duo Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle and is a track from the 1975 ( 1976?) Gallagher & Lyle album, “Breakaway”.

In the United States “Stay Young” was covered by Don Williams late in 1983 and it became his fifteenth number one country hit. 

Made me long for a new Tussler album…

Enjoy!

Motorpsycho – Stay Young (Trygdekontoret, March 5 2014):

and the original

Gallagher & Lyle – Stay Young (it starts about 4:15 into the video):

and Don Williams’s number one hit

Don Williams – Stay Young (it starts about 3:54 into the video):

– Hallgeir