All posts by Hallgeir

Classic Concert, Concert films, Jimi Hendrix

August 18: Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock 1969

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August 18: Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock 1969

By 1969, Hendrix was the world’s highest-paid rock musician. In August, he headlined the Woodstock Music and Art Fair that included many of the most popular bands of the time. For the concert, he added rhythm guitarist Larry Lee and conga players Juma Sultan and Jerry Velez. The band rehearsed for less than two weeks before the performance, and according to Mitchell, they never connected musically. Before arriving at the engagement, he heard reports that the size of the audience had grown to epic proportions, which gave him cause for concern as he did not enjoy performing for large crowds. He was an important draw for the event, and although he accepted substantially less money for the appearance than his usual fee he was the festival’s highest-paid performer. As his scheduled time slot of midnight on Sunday drew closer, he indicated that he preferred to wait and close the show in the morning; the band took the stage around 8:00 a.m. on Monday.

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Great albums, Music Calendar, The Band

August 17: The Band released Stage Fright in 1970

stage fright

See the man with the stage fright
Just standin’ up there to give it all his might.
And he got caught in the spotlight,
But when we get to the end
He wants to start all over again.

August 17: The Band released Stage Fright in 1970

Stage Fright is the third studio album by The Band. Much more of a rock album than its predecessors, it was a departure from their previous two efforts in that its tone was darker and featured less of the harmony vocal blend that had been a centerpiece of those two albums. It also included the last two recordings by The Band of new songs credited to pianist Richard Manuel; both were co-written with guitarist Robbie Robertson, who would continue to be the group’s dominant lyricist until the group disbanded in 1976. Nonetheless, the tradition of switching instruments that had begun on the previous album continued here, with each musician contributing instrumental parts on at least two different instruments.

Engineered by an up-and-coming Todd Rundgren, and produced by the group themselves for the first time, the album was recorded at the Woodstock Playhouse in their homebase of Woodstock, New York.

Stage Fright (from The Last Waltz):

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Jazz, Miles Davis, Music Calendar

August 17: Miles Davis released Kind of Blue in 1959

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kind-of-blue

“It must have been made in heaven.”
– Jimmy Cobb

August 17: Miles Davis released Kind of Blue in 1959

Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released August 17, 1959, on Columbia Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959. The sessions featured Davis’s ensemble sextet, which consisted of pianist Bill Evans (Wynton Kelly on one track), drummer Jimmy Cobb, bassist Paul Chambers, and saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian “Cannonball” Adderley.

Though precise figures have been disputed, Kind of Blue has been described by many music writers not only as Davis’s best-selling album, but as the best-selling jazz record of all time. On October 7, 2008, it was certified quadruple platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It has been regarded by many critics as the greatest jazz album of all time and Davis’s masterpiece.

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The album’s influence on music, including jazz, rock, and classical music, has led music writers to acknowledge it as one of the most influential albums ever made. In 2002, it was one of fifty recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. In 2003, the album was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

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Great albums, Music Calendar, Neil Young

August 16: Sleeps with Angels by Neil Young and Crazy Horse was released in 1994

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August 16: Sleeps with Angels by Neil Young and Crazy Horse was released in 1994

This is an album that ranks among Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s best, and in effect it is “Tonight’s the night part 2”. It is a dark, brooding masterpiece, with many of the same themes as “Tonight’s…”. It is a record than explain to us why Neil Young have earned the honorary title, The Grunge Godfather.

Sleeps with angels (official video):

Sleeps With Angels is the twenty-second studio album by  Neil Young, his sixth with Crazy Horse, it was released on the Warner Bros. Records/Reprise (same as Tonight’s the Night by the way) label.

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Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen concert, Bruce Springsteen video

August 15: Bruce Springsteen played a classic Largo concert in 1978 (Full concert Video)

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August 15: Bruce Springsteen played a classic Largo concert in 1978 (Full concert Video)

A concert perhaps best known for the outstanding video footage available. “Backstreets” has some lines from “Pretty Flamingo” in the ‘Sad Eyes’ section. Tremendous versions of “Quarter To Three” (particularly the video) and “Prove It All Night” with the cab driver intro and an outstanding guitar solo. “Jungleland” cuts after Steve’s guitar solo, and the start of “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” is also missing – presumably due to tape changes. The show features a particularly loose and active Bruce, maybe because the next day he was going home to New Jersey for the first time in a year. The video now circulates in good quality on DVD ‘I F*cked Everything Up’.
(from Brucebase)

“I’m watching the video of this concert. I cannot help writing some lines on it. I don’t want to encourage the buying of unauthorized material, but if you already have all the official video items, you really got to have this. Performance like ‘Sandy’ and ‘Prove it all night’ as captured in this film make you understand how great he is, just in case there was any doubt left.

All the show was great, but Sandy is above all… and this show was not better than all the other ’78 shows…. I’m just speaking of this because I just have this one…. This reminds me of an old phrase I saw written on some horrible shirt : “People can be divided in two halves; the ones who love him, and the ones who never saw him playing live…”

Back here… the video is goin’ on…. I cannot write nothing on Growin’up and Backstreets. The ‘sad eyes-drive all night-pretty flamingo’ interlude in backstreets is simply one of the best things you may ever watch and listen to…. Also Because the Night is terrific”

– www.brucespringsteen.it

 

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