Category Archives: Music Calendar

Today: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds released “Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus” in 2004, 9 years ago

September 20, 2013 Egil

I’ve always had an obligation to creation, above all.
~Nick Cave

People think I’m a miserable sod but it’s only because I get asked such bloody miserable questions.
~Nick Cave

Everything’s dissolving, babe, according to plan
The sky is on fire, the dead are heaped across the land
I went to bed last night and my
moral code got jammed
I woke up this morning with a Frappucino in my hand
~Nick Cave (Abattoir Blues)

Get ready for Love:

From Wikipedia:

Released	20 September 2004
Recorded	March–April 2004 at Studio Ferber in Paris, France
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	82:30
Label	Mute
Producer	Nick Launay

Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is the thirteenth studio album by the Australian alternative rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 20 September 2004 on Mute Records. It is a double album with a total of seventeen songs—nine on Abattoir Bluesand eight on The Lyre of Orpheus.

The album was produced by Nick Launay at Studio Ferber in Paris in March–April 2004 and Nick Cave used The Bad Seeds line up of Mick Harvey, Thomas Wydler, Martyn Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, Warren Ellis, and James Johnston. It was the first album by the group for which Blixa Bargeld did not perform – English guitarist and organist Johnston, of the group Gallon Drunk, replaced Bargeld. Cave decided to split drumming duties for the two parts, with Sclavunos on Abattoir Blues and Wydler on The Lyre of Orpheus. According to Launay, the whole album was completed in twelve days.

The album’s release was supported by the Abattoir Blues Tour, which travelled through Europe from 2 November to 5 December. In January 2007 a double live album and DVD was issued as The Abattoir Blues Tour. Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus’s last track, “O Children”, was featured in the 2010 film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and the song is referenced as an achievement in Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7. In March 2005, to complement the success of the double album, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released B-Sides & Rarities, a three-disc, 56-track collection of B-sides, rarities, and tracks that had appeared on film soundtracks.

From allmusic.com – Thom Jurek:

When Blixa Bargeld left Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds, who would have predicted his departure would result in one of the finest offerings in the band’s catalog? Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is a double CD or, rather, two completely different albums packaged in one very handsome box with a stylish lyric booklet and subtly colored pastel sleeves. They were recorded in a total of 16 days by producer Nick Launay (Kate Bush, Midnight Oil, Girls Against Boys, Silverchair, INXS, Virgin Prunes, et al.). Abattoir Blues, the first disc in the set (packaged in pink, of course), is a rock & roll record. Yeah, the same guy who released the Boatman’s Call, No More Shall We Part, and Nocturama albums has turned in a pathos-drenched, volume-cranked rocker, full of crunch, punishment — and taste. Drummer Jim Sclavunos’ aggressive, propulsive kit work is the bedrock of this set. It and Mick Harvey’s storm-squall guitar playing shake things loose on “Get Ready for Love,” which opens the album. As Cave goes right for God in the refrain — “get ready for love” — in the maelstrom, a gospel choir roaring “praise Him” responds. His tense, ambivalent obsession with theology is pervasive; he mocks the Western perception of God in the heavens yet seeks the mystery of His nature. … read more @ allmusic

Personnel:

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Nick Cave – vocals, piano, production, mixing
Mick Harvey – guitar, production, mixing
Warren Ellis – violin, mandolin, bouzouki, flute, production, mixing
Martyn P. Casey – bass, production
Conway Savage – piano, production
James Johnston – organ
Jim Sclavunos – drums, percussion, production on Abbattoir Blues
Thomas Wydler – drums, percussion, production on The Lyre of Orpheus

Technical personnel

Nick Launay – producer, engineer, mixing
Lars Fox – digital audio editor
Ian Cooper – mastering

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….. Bargeld’s departure seems to have shaken Cave and his cohorts in the best way imaginable. The Bad Seeds sounded reined in on Nocturama, a waste of perhaps the most distinctive backing band in rock. Here, they sound energised and unfettered. There is a surfeit of breathtaking moments: Hiding All Away’s finale, where they shift from queasy funk to full-on hellfire-and-brimstone mode; the angular repetitions of The Lyre of Orpheus; the opening of Windswept, with Cave singing “through the windswept coastal trees, where the dead come rising from the sea”, over a frantic, rolling backing of hammering piano and pattering drums, whose the cumulative effect is enough to give you motion sickness…. Abattoir Blues is packed with standard apocalyptic Cave imagery, but he sounds most horrified about a visit to Starbucks: “The sky is on fire, the dead are heaped across the land,” he moans. “I woke up this morning with a Frappucino in my hand.”

You can’t really imagine anyone else in rock writing lyrics like that, but then, you really can’t imagine anyone else making an album like this. Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is an entirely unique return to form.
~Alexis Petridis (The Guardian)

Nature Boy:

Album of the day:

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Country, Great albums, Music Calendar, Rock

Today: Uncle Tupelo released Still Feel Gone in 1991

September 17, 2013 Hallgeir

“When the Bible is a bottle
and a hardwood floor is home
When morning comes twice a day
or not at all…”
– Still Be Around

Still Feel Gone is the second album by Uncle Tupelo. It was released 17 September 1991 on Rockville Records and re-released in 2003 by Sony Legacy. It was my first Uncle Tupelo album (I bought No Depression the next day).

Uncle Tupelo was an alt. country music group from Belleville, Illinois, they were active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their earlier band, The Primitives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville Records.
Uncle Tupelo broke up before it achieved commercial success, but the band is renowned for its impact on the alternative country music scene. The group’s first album, No Depression, became a byword for the genre and was widely influential. Uncle Tupelo’s sound was unlike popular country music of the time, drawing inspiration from styles as diverse as the hardcore punk of The Minutemen and the country instrumentation and harmony of the Carter Family and Hank Williams.

Uncle Tupelo is a very important band in the development of Alt.country/Americana.

“With the release of their 1990 debut LP, No Depression, the Belleville, IL, trio Uncle Tupelo launched more than simply their own career—by fusing the simplicity and honesty of country music with the bracing fury of punk, they kick-started a revolution which reverberated throughout the American underground.”
– Jason Ankeny (allmusic)

Uncle Tupelo – Gun (Bloomington,IN, 1992):

I love the contrasts in Uncle Tupelo, the country vs. punk/rock, Tweedy’s voice vs. Farrar’s voice, the heart aching ballads vs. the working class lament. The slow howls in the songs vs. the attacking guitars. The balance of innocence and rawness gives Still Feel Gone an edge and an emotional dimension seldom found.
To me the album sounds like a stew consisting of, The Clash, Neil Young, Rolling Stones, Husker Du and all the country music influences they surely got from their parents’ records and their radio listening habits. It’s a lovely stew and a contender for best album of 1991.

“The band eschews quaint rootsiness for the time-bomb attack of Jay Ferrar’s aggressive stop-start guitars and some deceptively gentle acoustic ballads that convey an underlying sense of dissatisfaction. The band’s melodic skills don’t always equal their unpretentiousness, but Still Feel Gone remains a vivid snapshot of life in a town that`s colored gray.”
– Chicago Tribune (Feb 1992)

Uncle Tupelo – Punch Drunk (Toad’s Place, New Haven CT, March 2, 1992):

“The characters that populate Still Feel Gone are far from one-dimensional caricatures of rural life. Songwriters Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy write with an insightful eye and ragged beauty that bring their images alive without coming off as rote shrieks of youthful disenchantment. “
– Rolling Stone Magazine (Mar 1992)

Uncle Tupelo – Still Feel Gone on Spotify:

– Hallgeir

Country, Hank Williams, Music Calendar

Today: The late Hank Williams was born in 1923, 90 years ago

September 17, 2013 Egil 1 Comment

It can be explained in just one word: sincerity. When a hillbilly sings a crazy song, he feels crazy. When he sings, ‘I Laid My Mother Away,’ he sees her a-laying right there in the coffin. He sings more sincere than most entertainers because the hillbilly was raised rougher than most entertainers. You got to know a lot about hard work. You got to have smelt a lot of mule manure before you can sing like a hillbilly. The people that have been raised something like the way the hillbilly has…. knows what he sings about and appreciates it
~Hank Williams (on the success of Country Music)

Nobody had a talent for making suffering enjoyable like Hank Williams
~Kris Kristofferson

Hank Williams was the first influence I would think.
~Bob Dylan (to Billy James, Oct 1961)

I started writing songs after I heard Hank Williams.
~Bob Dylan (The Les Crane Show, 17 Feb 1965)

Cold Cold Heart:

From Wikipedia:

Birth name	Hiram King Williams
Also known as	The Lovesick Blues Boy Lovesick Luke the Drifter Hank Williams, Sr. The Hillbilly Shakespeare
Born	September 17, 1923 Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama
Died	January 1, 1953 (aged 29) Oak Hill, West Virginia
Genres	Country, Western, gospel,blues, honky-tonk, folk
Occupations	Songwriter Musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1937–1952
Labels	Sterling, MGM
Associated acts	Drifting Cowboys Audrey Williams
Website	www.hankwilliams.com

Hank Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953), born Hiram King Williams, was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most important country music artists of all time. Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that would place in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one.

From allmusic – Stephen Thomas Erlewine:

Hank Williams is the father of contemporary country music. He was a superstar by the age of 25; he was dead at the age of 29. In those four short years, he established the rules for all the country performers who followed him and, in the process, much of popular music. Hank wrote a body of songs that became popular classics, and his direct, emotional lyrics and vocals became the standard for most popular performers. He lived a life as troubled and reckless as that depicted in his songs. …. read more @ allmusic.com

Legacy:

Alabama governor Gordon Persons officially proclaimed September 21 “Hank Williams Day”
In 1961, Williams was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame
he was inducted in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1985
In 1987, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the category Early Influence
He was ranked second in CMT’s 40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003, behind only Johnny Cash
His son, Hank Jr., was ranked on the same list
In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked him number 74 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time
In 2011 Williams’s 1949 MGM number one hit, “Lovesick Blues,” was inducted into the Recording Academy Grammy Hall Of Fame.
In 1999, Williams was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame.
On April 12, 2010, the Pulitzer Prize Board awarded Williams a posthumous special citation that paid tribute to his “craftsmanship as a songwriter who expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life.”
Keeping his legacy, Williams’s son, Hank Williams, Jr., daughter Jett Williams, grandson Hank Williams III, and granddaughters Hilary Williams and Holly Williams are also country musicians.

Lovesick Blues:

Hey Good Lookin’:

Album of the day – 40 Greatest Hits (1979):

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Check out:

Bob Dylan: House of Gold (Hank Williams) Audio & Video

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Blues, Memphis, Music Calendar

Today: B.B. King is 88

September 16, 2013 Egil 1 Comment

The blues was like that problem child that you may have had in the family. You was a little bit ashamed to let anybody see him, but you loved him. You just didn’t know how other people would take it.
~B. B. King

I never use that word, retire.
~B. B. King

Universally hailed as the reigning king of the blues, the legendary B.B. King is without a doubt the single most important electric guitarist of the last half century. His bent notes and staccato picking style have influenced legions of contemporary bluesmen, while his gritty and confident voice — capable of wringing every nuance from any lyric — provides a worthy match for his passionate playing.
~Bill Dahl (allmusic.com)

The Thrill Is Gone (Live at Montreux 1993):

From Wikipedia:

Birth name	Riley King
Also known as	B.B. King, King of the Blues
Born	September 16, 1925 (age 88)
Origin	Itta Bena, Mississippi, United States
Genres	Blues, soul blues, jazz, blues rock, electric blues, rhythm and blues, soul
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1949–present
Labels	Geffen/Interscope/Universal,Bullet Records, RPM Records,Crown, ABC, MCA,Reprise/Warner Bros.,Virgin/EMI
Associated acts	Bobby Bland, Eric Clapton, Pappo, Big Krit

Riley B. King (born September 16, 1925), known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American songwriter, vocalist, and famed blues guitarist.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No. 6 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. and No. 17 in Gibson’s Top 50 Guitarists of All Time. According to Edward M. Komara, King “introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that would influence virtually every electric blues guitarist that followed.” King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He is widely considered one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, because of this he is often nicknamed ‘The King of Blues’. He is also known for performing tirelessly throughout his musical career appearing at 250-300 concerts per year until his seventies. In 1956 it was noted that he appeared at 342 shows, still at the age of 86 King appears at 100 shows a year.

Over a period of 63 years, King has played in excess of 15,000 performances.

Over the years, King has developed one of the world’s most identifiable guitar styles. He borrowed from Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker and others, integrating his precise and complex vocal-like string bends and his left hand vibrato, both of which have become indispensable components of rock guitarists’ vocabulary. His economy and phrasing has been a model for thousands of players, from Eric Clapton and George Harrison to Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. King has mixed blues, jazz, swing, mainstream pop and jump into a unique sound. In King’s words, “When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille.”

Everyday I have the Blues:

Honors & awards:

In 1977, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music by Yale University
In 1980, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1990, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
In 1991, he was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA.

King was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 1995. This is given to recognize “the lifelong accomplishments and extraordinary talents of our nation’s most prestigious artists.”
In 2004, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music awarded him the Polar Music Prize for his “significant contributions to the blues”.
On December 15, 2006, President George W. Bush awarded King the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
On May 27, 2007, King was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Brown University.
On May 14, 2008, King was presented with the keys to the city of Utica, New York; and on May 18, 2008, the mayor of Portland, Maine, Edward Suslovic, declared the day “B.B. King Day” in the city. Prior to King’s performance at the Merrill Auditorium, Suslovic presented King with the keys to the city.
In 2009, TIME named B.B. King No.3 on its list of the 10 best electric guitarists of all time.
Each year during the first week in June, a B.B. King Homecoming Festival is held in Indianola, Mississippi.
A Mississippi Blues Trail marker was added for B.B. King, commemorating his birthplace.
On May 29, 2010, Sabrosa Park (at the small town of Sabrosa, north of Portugal) was renamed B.B. King Park in honor of King and the free concert he played before 20,000 people.

How Blue Can You Get (Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll):

Album of the day – Live At The Regal (1965):

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Drive-by Truckers, Music Calendar

Today: Mike Cooley is 47 Happy Birthday

September 14, 2013 Hallgeir

Mike Cooley, guitarist, songwriter and singer in one of our favorite bands Drive-By Truckers, was born 14 September 1966.

Happy Birthday, Mike Cooley!

Drive-By Truckers are an alternative country/Southern rock band based in Athens, Georgia, but two of the members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama, and the band strongly identifies with Alabama. Their music uses three guitars as well as bass, drums, and now keyboards.

During a recent solo tour, the Drive by Truckers’ Mike Cooley stopped by the Fretboard Journal magazine offices to perform this tune. “Birthday Boy” originally appeared on the DBT’s album ‘The Big To-Do.’ Cooley also describes the unique guitar he’s playing, built by luthier Scott Baxendale.

Mike Cooley – Birthday Boy:

Drive-By Truckers was co-founded by Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood in Athens, Georgia, in 1996. The two had played in various other bands including Adam’s House Cat which was chosen as a top ten Best Unsigned Band by a Musician contest in the late 1980s. After the demise of Adam’s House Cat, Cooley and Hood performed as a duo under the name “Virgil Kane.” They eventually started a new band, “Horsepussy,” before splitting for a few years. It was during this split that Hood moved to Athens, Georgia and began forming what would become Drive-By Truckers. Cooley soon followed.

Mike Cooley – Gravity’s Gone (The Hideout, Chicago, November 29, 2012):

” After spending much of his young life scrapping in the rock & roll trenches, he’s become one of the best songwriters of his generation, having
amassed a catalog of songs that can go toe-to-toe with any of his contemporaries. Along the way, he and DriveBy Truckers have become an acclaimed, enduring lynchpin of American rock & roll. And now, with The Fool on Every Corner, Cooley begins the latest chapter in his impressive career, uncompromising as always, and more thankful than ever.

I’m lucky as hell,” he says. “No doubt about it. I’m not rich, I’m probably not gonna be, and I’m totally cool with
that. But I’m making my living, and I do what I want—I do it my way. I’ve got an awesome family, a bunch of
great friends, loyal fans. And I think about that every day. It just would be immoral for me not to.”

– drivebytruckers.com (press release, Fool on Every Corner)

Today’s album is Fool On Every Corner (Spotify):

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