The Joy of Sox (Free subscription) | yesterday
On November 25, 1976, the five members of The Band -- Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson - played their last concert together. It was billed as The Last Waltz . The Thanksgiving Day show (all 5,000 tickleholders were given a full sit-down turkey dinner before the show) was held at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom and was filmed by Martin Scorsese. Besides...
Supersonic Narcissist (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
Here's some media that I've been exploring/enjoying lately that I thought I might share with you. Six Moral Tales: by Eric Rohmer Criterion boxset The title may be mistranslated/misleading, as these films aren't really parables of any kind, but instead are sure handed stories of people grappling with love and their own moralities. These films were first written as a series of stories (Collected in...
The Fader Magazine (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
Every once in a while, Levon Helm of The Band opens his upstate New York home to friends and family (and those with about a hundred bucks) and has a Midnight Ramble, an open group session of riffs and trills. We have not been, unfortunately, but friends who’ve attended describe the communal twang as universally [...]
Hidden Track (Free subscription) | 11/16/2009
The drama between lead singer Steven Tyler and the rest of his Aerosmith band mates exploded this past week. As of press time we’re still unsure as to whether Steven Tyler is still in the band he helped form. We thought Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry had kissed and made up when the mercurial vocalist sang Walk This Way with Joe Perry’s solo band at Irving Plaza, but Perry told Rolling Stone...
Hidden Track (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
Originally, the purpose for The Midnight Rambles at Levon Helm’s Woodstock home-recording studio - otherwise referred to as The Barn - was to serve as a way for the legendary drummer of The Band to recoup money from his mounting medical bills after battling and overcoming throat cancer. Helm’s iconic and unmistakable voice was down to barely a raspy whisper after radiation treatments which...
Sound of the City (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
Yeah alright, them boys in Wolfmother are pretty goofy -- a bit too Guitar Hero: The Band. But dig who's opening their gig tonight at the Music Hall of Williamsburg: None other than the He...
Cybergrass (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will perform one of the new cuts from their latest album 'Speed of Life' (NGDB Records/Sugar Hill) as well as their classic "Mr. Bojangles" on the CBS Early Show on Saturday, November 21. Later that night, the group will bring their "deceptively masterful playing" (Washington Post) up north to play Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble in Woodstock, NY - a fitting...
Brooklyn Vegan (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
Levon Helm The Levon Helm Band will be departing from their weekly "Midnight Ramble" gig at Helm's Studio in Woodstock for a show at NYC's Terminal 5 on Thursday, January 7th, 2010. Joining them at this show be Okkervil River...
Word Magazine blogs (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
I adore The Band's first three albums. I also like a great deal of their later stuff and even some of the solo output, especially Danko's first and the recent Levon Helm CDs. I was surprised the Observer Music Magazine gave space to Robbie Robertson's version of "The Last Waltz" filming. The break-up came, as is clear from various accounts, of Robertson's reluctance to tour and/or share...
Hidden Track (Free subscription) | 10/29/2009
One of our favorite bands, The Band, was far from the most photographed/filmed act in the ’70s as such there aren’t many clips of The Band in action on YouTube. Yet, there are some and the ones that are on YouTube give a great view of this incredible ensemble doing their thing. This week’s B List presents the ten best The Band vids on YouTube. 1. Don’t Do It (The Academy of...
silence is a rhythm too (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
As many of you will know, I saw Steely Dan live a month or two ago. Their touring band is smoking hot - three lovely backing singers, a Grand piano, and a four piece horn section all feature. Their trumpet player is Michael Leonhart. He has been with the Dan since 1996, both in the live band and as their arranger, performer, and conductor on Two Against Nature and it's follow-up Everything Must
Spinner.com (Free subscription) | 10/23/2009
Filed under: News , New Music When 15-year-old Killian Mansfield decided to record his debut album last year, it had to be the best he could ever do. He knew there wasn't another shot at it, no follow-up to refine any novice slips or incomplete artistic visions. This was his only chance. Within a year, the amateur musician who grew up in New York City and lived in the small village of West Shokan,...
Spinner.com (Free subscription) | 10/18/2009
Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News When the Who take the stage, it's deservedly an event. With a catalog 40 years in the making, frontman Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend , the last two remaining original members of the band, have earned that right. On Saturday night at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, Daltrey was at the helm of a more low-key event, taking to the stage as part of...
Popdose (Free subscription) | 10/17/2009
Ken Shane has re-emerged from those dusty crates again, and this time he's carrying a rock and roll classic: the Band's Music From Big Pink .
captains dead (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
top of the morning. i have finally gotten around to listening to levon helm’s 07 release, dirt farmer, and all i can say is wow. its scratchin right where i itch. is electric dirt as good? i have heard that its hit or miss. anyone confirm or deny? so, after listening to dirt farmer for [...]
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