Tag Archives: Spooner Oldham

November 16: Bob Dylan San Francisco, California 1979 (concert audio)

bob dylan 1979

 

“…his fall 1979 concerts. “What Can I Do For You?”, “Solid Rock”, “Saving Grace”, “Covenant Woman” and “In The Garden” as performed at these shows are some of the finest work in Dylan’s oeuvre, but you’d never know that from listening to “Saved”, the 1980 studio album that features these compositions.
…….you’re awareness and appreciation of Dylan’s greatness is incomplete until you hear these songs (and “When He Returns”) as performed live in the fall of 1979..
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, Vol 2: The Middle Years 1974-1986)

“….this gospel show explodes with vocal passion to be found in few other Dylan periods.”
~bobsboots.com

The November shows @ Warfield in 1979 are by many fans (& collectors) considered to be the highlight of the “Gospel Tours”. Nov 6,7,11 & 16 are the shows I’ve been listening to…. and Nov 16 is my personal favorite. It is an amazing concert… … it’s actually one of my absolute fav Dylan concerts, top 10 for sure.

Fox Warfield Theatre
San Francisco, California
16 November 1979

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Fred Tackett (guitar)
  • Spooner Oldham (keyboards)
  • Tim Drummond (bass)
  • Terry Young (keyboards)
  • Jim Keltner (drums)
  • Regina Havis , Helena Springs , Mona Lisa Young (background vocals)

Continue reading November 16: Bob Dylan San Francisco, California 1979 (concert audio)

June 14 in music history

44 years ago:The Grateful Dead released Workingman’s Dead in 1970 (read more)

Of course they don’t sing as pretty as CSNY–prettiness would trivialize these songs. The sparse harmonies and hard-won melodies go with lyrics that make all the American connections claimed by San Francisco’s counterculture; there’s a naturally stoned bemusement in their good times, hard times, high times, and lost times that joins the fatalism of the physical frontier with the wonder of the psychedelic one. And the changeable rhythms hold out the promise of Uncle John’s Band, who might just save us if we’ll only call the tune. Inspirational Verse: “Think this through with me.” A
~Robert Christgau (robertchristgau.com)

WorkingmansDead_Cover
Dewey Lindon “Spooner” Oldham (born June 14, 1943) is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and at FAME Studios on such hit R&B songs as “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge, “Mustang Sally” by Wilson Pickett and “I Never Loved a Man” by Aretha Franklin.As a songwriter, Spooner Oldham teamed with Dan Penn to write such hits as “Cry Like a Baby” (The Box Tops), “I’m Your Puppet” (James and Bobby Purify), “A Woman Left Lonely” and “It Tears Me Up” (Percy Sledge). spooner oldham by andrew quist
William Rory Gallagher (2 March 1948  – 14 June 1995)Irish blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, and raised in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste during the late 1960s. A talented guitarist known for his charismatic performances and dedication to his craft, Gallagher’s albums have sold in excess of 30 million copies worldwide. Gallagher received a liver transplant in 1995, but died of complications later that year in London, UK at the age of 47.  rory gallagher
 Autry DeWalt Mixon, Jr. (June 14, 1931 – November 23, 1995), known by the stage name Junior Walker, was an American musician. His group, Junior Walker & the All Stars, were signed to the Motown label in the 1960s, and became one of the label’s signature acts.His saxophone style was the anchor for the band’s overall sound. The other original members of the group were drummer Tony Washington, guitarist Willie Woods, and keyboardist Vic Thomas  250px-Junior_Walker

Spotify Playlist – june 14

Today – The Grateful Dead released “Workingman’s Dead” in 1970 – 43 years ago

Grateful dead - workingman's dead

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

Uncle John’s Band:

Wikipedia:

Released June 14, 1970
Recorded February 1970
Genre Country rock, rock
Length 35:33
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Bob Matthews
Betty Cantor
Grateful Dead

Workingman’s Dead is the fifth album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded in February 1970 and originally released on June 14, 1970.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 262 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

GratefulDead-1970-WorkingmansDead

Of course they don’t sing as pretty as CSNY–prettiness would trivialize these songs. The sparse harmonies and hard-won melodies go with lyrics that make all the American connections claimed by San Francisco’s counterculture; there’s a naturally stoned bemusement in their good times, hard times, high times, and lost times that joins the fatalism of the physical frontier with the wonder of the psychedelic one. And the changeable rhythms hold out the promise of Uncle John’s Band, who might just save us if we’ll only call the tune. Inspirational Verse: “Think this through with me.” A
~Robert Christgau (robertchristgau.com)

Garcia has commented that much of the sound of the album comes both from his pairing with Hunter as well as the band’s friendship with Crosby, Stills and Nash. “Hearing those guys sing and how nice they sounded together, we thought, ‘We can try that. Let’s work on it a little’” commented Garcia.

Workingmans_Dead

 

Track Listing:

All songs written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter except where noted.

Side one

  1. “Uncle John’s Band” 4:42
  2. “High Time” 5:12
  3. “Dire Wolf” 3:11
  4. “New Speedway Boogie” 4:01

Side two

  1. “Cumberland Blues” (Garcia, Hunter, and Phil Lesh) 3:14
  2. “Black Peter” 5:41
  3. “Easy Wind” (Hunter) 4:57
  4. “Casey Jones” 4:24

Musicians:

  • Jerry Garcia – lead guitar, pedal steel guitar, vocals
  • Bob Weir – guitar, vocals
  • Pigpen (Ron McKernan) – keyboards, harmonica, vocals
  • Phil Lesh – bass, vocals
  • Bill Kreutzmann – drums
  • Mickey Hart – drums
  • Tom Constanten – keyboards on reissue live bonus tracks “Dire Wolf”, “Black Peter”, “Easy Wind”, “Cumberland Blues”, “Mason’s Children”

Additional musicians

  • David Nelson – acoustic guitar on “Cumberland Blues”

Album @ spotify:

 Other June 14:

Continue reading Today – The Grateful Dead released “Workingman’s Dead” in 1970 – 43 years ago

Today: Dan Penn is 71

At the dark end of the street
That’s where we always meet
Hiding in shadows where we don’t belong
Livin in darkness to hide a wrong
You and me
At the dark end of the street
You and me

Dan Penn was an important player in the development of the “Southern Soul scene” in Memphis in the early 60’s.

Here he performs one of the greatest soul songs ever, which he wrote together with Chips Moman in 1966:

Dark End of The Street:

I also need to include the best version of this fantastic song – James Carr:

From Wikipedia:

Dan Penn (born Wallace Daniel Pennington, 16 November 1941) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including “Dark End Of The Street” and “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” with Chips Moman as well as “Out Of Left Field” and “Cry Like a Baby” with Spooner Oldham. Penn also produced many hits including “The Letter” by The Box Tops. Though considered to be one of the great white soul singers of his generation, Penn has released relatively few records featuring his own vocals and musicianship preferring the relative anonymity of songwriting and producing.

I’m Your Puppet (Penn/Spooner Oldham):

Steve Kurutz (allmusic.com):
Songwriter/producer Dan Penn has been a quiet force behind Southern soul music for over thirty years. Always moving just out of view of the limelight, Penn has produced and written hits for the Box Tops, Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin and Ronnie Milsap, among others.
Originally from Vernon, Alabama, Penn began his career as a performer, leading several white R&B bands around the Muscle Shoals area. Achieving early success by selling a hit song to Conway Twitty (“Is a Bluebird Blue?”), the songwriter eventually moved to Memphis, joining producer Chips Moman at his American Studios. Together the two, along with Penn’s writing partner, organist Spooner Oldham, wrote and/or produced several hits for the Box Tops, such as “The Letter” and “Cry Like a Baby,” throughout the late ’60s.
…read more over @ allmusic.com

Album of the day:

Do Right Man (1994):


From allmusic.com (Chris Nickson):
If James Brown is Soul Brother Number One, you can make a very credible case for Dan Penn being number two. The Alabama native has had a hand in writing a fair number of classic soul songs, and here he commits his versions of them to tape for the first time, recording, of course, in Muscle Shoals, with their fabulous house band, and a horn section including former Memphis Horn member Wayne Jackson. It’s a tall order Penn sets himself, offering himself up for comparison with greats like James Carr, Aretha Franklin, and James and Bobby Purify, who have sung his songs — and that’s just the start of the list. However, he comes out very well, beginning with a quiet take on”The Dark End of the Street,” coming across like a note to a secret lover, rather than a cry of pain.
…read more – allmusic.com 

Other November 16:

Continue reading Today: Dan Penn is 71

Today: Spooner Oldham was born in 1943


(photo: Andrew Quist)

Spooner Oldham
Dewey Lindon “Spooner” Oldham (born June 14, 1943) is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and at FAME Studios on such hit R&B songs as “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge, “Mustang Sally” by Wilson Pickett and “I Never Loved a Man” by Aretha Franklin.
As a songwriter, Spooner Oldham teamed with Dan Penn to write such hits as “Cry Like a Baby” (The Box Tops), “I’m Your Puppet” (James and Bobby Purify), “A Woman Left Lonely” and “It Tears Me Up” (Percy Sledge).

I’m your Puppet (here with Dan Penn):

Oldham was inducted into the Rock’n Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, here’s his acceptance speech:

Other june-15:

Continue reading Today: Spooner Oldham was born in 1943