June 28: Gillian Welch released The Harrow & The Harvest in 2011
The Harrow & the Harvest is stunning for its intimacy, its lack of studio artifice, its warmth and its timeless, if hard won, songcraft.
~Thom Jurek (allmusic.com)
The Harrow & The Harvest is simply one of the richest, most expansive roots albums to be released in some time.
~Douglas Heselgrave (pastemagazine.com)
June 14: The Grateful Dead released “Workingman’s Dead” in 1970
Workingman’s Dead, in part inspired by the rustic soul of the Band, ranks as the Dead’s studio masterpiece, followed closely by American Beauty. The focus is on the songs, rather than the jams, and these would provide the focal point of an era, spanning 1969–74, when the Dead played some of the most remarkable concerts in American history, virtually every one available in some incarnation thanks to the band’s dedicated tapers.
~rollingstone.com
June 11: Them released their debut album The Angry Young Them in 1965
“These five young rebels are outrageously true to themselves. Defiant! Angry! Sad! They are honest to the point of insult!” (original liner notes)
The Angry Young Them is Them’s first album. The album was released in the UK on 11th of June 1965. The band’s lead singer and songwriter was of course Van “The Man” Morrison. He was with Them on only two albums before deciding to go solo.
The opening track Mystic Eyes was from an 8 or 9 minute jam originally, a long intense jam session in the studio with Van making the words up on the spur of the moment. Oh why didn’t they use the long take? Anyway, a good opener.
If You And I Could Be As Two is the next song and itopens with Van’s spoken voice talking (rather angrily) before this wonderful soul ballad continues. Then it is Little Girlwhich is about watching a 14-year-old (!) school girl on her way to school, not very acceptable these days but we need to remember that Van Morrison was only a teenager himself when he sang these words (still no excuse, I know).
Just A Little Bit by Roscoe Gordon is the next one out, Morrison sings great and it is my favorite song of the non Van Morrison penned tracks. Fantastic song!
Then we are in for the weakest track on the album, I Gave My Love a Diamond. That is not a put-down, because it’s a good sixties ballad, it just pales compared to the other songs on the album.
June 4: Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin was released in 1969
When I was little boy I was very interested in music, the radio and records. My father had a small but very good record collection. Among the treasures in his collection was this album, Johnny Cash – Live at San Quentin. My father told me the story of the album, and I remember that the Norwegian broadcast company (yes there were only one channel at the time, early 70s) showed the actual concert. It was very late at night but my father woke me and I got to see this legendary show. It marked me for life.
At San Quentin is the 31st overall album and a recording of a live concert given by Johnny Cash to the inmates of San Quentin State Prison. As well as being released on record the concert was filmed by Granada Television.
Johnny Cash – San Quentin Songs Compilation (with great sound!):
June 4: Bruce Springsteen released Born in the USA in 1984
Born down in a dead man’s town The first kick I took was when I hit the ground You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much ‘Til you spend half your life just covering up
Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by Bruce Springsteen, it was released on June 4, 1984. A critical and commercial triumph, it found Springsteen marking a departure in his sound.
While the predecessor, the dark and acoustic Nebraska featured songs of pessimism and isolation, Born in the U.S.A.’s lyrics expressed signs of hope in the daily fight of the standard American in following the American Dream, a new feeling complemented by synthesized arrangements and a pop-flavored, radio-oriented sound that helped Springsteen to extend his popularity and appeal to mainstream audiences.
Born in the USA (Live Paris, 1985):
Ronald Reagan, during his 1984 re-election campaign, tried to coast on the rising popularity of Bruce Springsteen and Born in the U.S.A. :
“America’s future rests in a thousand dreams inside our hearts,” Reagan said at a stump speech in Hammonton, New Jersey. “It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire: New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen.”
Has a song ever been so misunderstood? Maybe if he heard the following version he would have hesitated…
