The Traveling Wilburys "The End Of The Line"

By Jack Brummet, Rock Editor

This is a most bittersweet video.  Somewhere between the time when they recorded this originally, and when they shot the video, Lefty Wilbury a/k/a Roy Orbison, passed on (his name is a tribute to country great Lefty Frizzell).  This video shows Orbison's guitar rocking in a chair as the rest of the group play, followed by a brief shot focused on a framed picture of Roy.


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Eva Cassidy

Eva Cassidy could sing practically every genre...and sell it!  What else can you say?  She's had far more success being gone than she did while she was here.  There are even a couple of movies about her coming out, more--I suspect--about her pretty sad story than about her talent. I think Over the Rainbow is probably her biggest "hit."



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David Bowie Space Oddity (2009 Remastered) - Major Tom - The Right Stuff...

I remember when this came out (around the same time Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side appeared).  It felt like something new that just might take root...
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David Hidalgo and Los Lobos perform "Kiko and the Lavender Moon"

Here is the amazing Los Lobos tune "Kiko and the Lavender Moon," however, the only good version on YouTube was this one, with someone's cat performing tricks. This is David Hidalgo and The Wolves at their absolute peak (and they've had many amazing moments, from their first album 20 years ago to now).


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The English Beat play Stand Down Margaret [Thatcher!]

This video clip must be from the current English Beat tour...Dave made a point of mentioning Margaret's birthday and failed memory last week in Seattle too. Stand Down Margaret is one of my favorite EB tunes, since I well remember the dreaded Thatcher-Reagan years. . . and they always pair it with Whine and Grine or another tasty tune.

I wonder how long it will be before people like Steve Earle and Neil Young start writing Stand Down Barack songs?


The English Beat - Whine and Grine & Stand Down Margaret
by Rikardo1980
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Big Star videos: In The Street and The Ballad of El Goodo

Big Star, the legendary band from the 70's, has been comprised, since about 1992, of 50% Big Star and 50% Posies: Jody Stephens, Ken Stringfellow, Jon Auer, and the legendary Alex Chilton.



Here are videos of In The Street and The Ballad of El Goodo. In The Street served for several years as the theme of The 70'show - I hope Alex still had a chunk of the action! I have seen Big Star three times, and The Posies about eight times over the last many years...






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An interview with John Doe of X on X and rock and roll

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Music that matters: Neil Young

My favorite albums by Neil Young. I am, in particular, a fan of Crazy Horse, so you may not find so much of the gentler, tuneful, sylvan, or more mellow Neil here:

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (w/ Crazy Horse)
After the Goldrush
Harvest
Time Fades Away
On the Beach
Tonight's the Night
Rust Never Sleeps (with Crazy Horse)
Live Rust (with Crazy Horse)
Ragged Glory (with Crazy Horse)
Arc Weld (with Crazy Horse)
Harvest Moon
Sleeps With Angels (with Crazy Horse)
Year of the Horse (with Crazy Horse)
Greendale (with Crazy Horse)
Living With War
Live At Massey Hall 1971
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Another list: my favorite Kinks tracks

I was a fan of their British Invasion songs, but really came to love them later, post-1972, with the release of Everybody's In Show Biz, Preservation, Village Green, and Schoolboys. Everybody's in Show Biz, in particular is my favorite, although it was critically panned. This was part of my soundtrack for the years 1972-74, along with Deep Purple's Who Do We Think We Are, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will The Circle Be Unbroken, CSNY's Four Way Street, Led Zep's Houses of the Holy, the mid to later Beatles (Revolver, White Album, Abbey Road), The Grateful Dead Europe '72, anything by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, The Doors, and my first forays into jazz with Charles Lloyd, Weather Report, and Chick Corea.

By the later 1970's, Kinks songs were being covered by all sorts of people, most notably Val Halen, The Pretenders, Blur, Joan Jett, The Jam, Seattle's Young Fresh Fellows, Mark Lanegan, Yo La Tengo, The Stranglers and many more. . .


Waterloo Sunset
Education
Celluloid Heroes
Victoria
'Till The End Of The Day
Muswell Hillbilly
Death of a Clown
Motorway
Sitting in my hotel
Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues
Genevieve
I'm in disgrace
Sunny Afternoon
All Day and all of the night
20th Century Man
Apeman
Jack the idiot dunce
No More Looking Back
The Hard Way
Set Me Free
Alcohol
Lola
Motorway
Everybody's a star
Top of the pops
Lola
Fancy
David Watts
Stop your sobbing
You really got me
Lola
A Face In The Crowd
Starmaker
One of the survivors
Here comes yet another day
Tired of waiting for you
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Steppenwolf's version of Hoyt Axton's The Pusher (with lyrics)

Easy Rider (1969) is the first movie I saw where Rock and Roll was an integral part of the movie. Yeah, there were some others...five years earlier, A Hard Day's Night was an unbelievable music movie. But this was something else. It was an actual movie, with real actors...including Jack Nicholson's over the top cameo. The songs were edgy, and on the cutting edge, including this great tune by Steppenwolf...the highest fidelity version I could locate is this one, with a "psychedelic" fan video. The Pusher blew our young minds when we heard it. It was written by the late great Hoyt Axton...




The Pusher
by Hoyt Axton

You know I've smoked a lot of grass
O' Lord, I've popped a lot of pills
But I never touched nothin'
That my spirit could kill
You know, I've seen a lot of people walkin' 'round
With tombstones in their eyes
But the pusher don't care
Ah, if you live or if you die

God damn, The Pusher
God damn, I say The Pusher
I said God damn, God damn The Pusher man

You know the dealer, the dealer is a man
With the love grass in his hand
Oh but the pusher is a monster
Good God, he's not a natural man
The dealer for a nickel
Lord, will sell you lots of sweet dreams
Ah, but the pusher ruin your body
Lord, he'll leave your, he'll leave your mind to scream

God damn, The Pusher
God damn, God damn the Pusher
I said God damn, God, God damn The Pusher man

Well, now if I were the president of this land
You know, I'd declare total war on The Pusher man
I'd cut him if he stands, and I'd shoot him if he'd run
Yes I'd kill him with my Bible and my razor and my gun

God damn The Pusher
Gad damn The Pusher
I said God damn, God damn The Pusher man
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The Doors perform The End live, with lyrics

I've always liked the lyrics from select Doors' songs (usually when Jim was able to somewhat restrain the Lizard King/Mr Mojo Risin side). I especially like these chillling lines


The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall

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The End
Music and Lyrics by The Doors


This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
Ill never look into your eyes...again

Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...strangers hand
In a...desperate land

Lost in a roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah

Theres danger on the edge of town
Ride the kings highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby

Ride the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake is long, seven miles
Ride the snake...hes old, and his skin is cold

The west is the best
The west is the best
Get here, and well do the rest

The blue bus is callin us
The blue bus is callin us
Driver, where you taken us

The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived, and...then he
Paid a visit to his brother, and then he
He walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door...and he looked inside
Father, yes son, I want to kill you
Mother...i want to...fuck you

Cmon baby, take a chance with us
Cmon baby, take a chance with us
Cmon baby, take a chance with us
And meet me at the back of the blue bus
Doin a blue rock
On a blue bus
Doin a blue rock
Cmon, yeah

Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

It hurts to set you free
But youll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die
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Video: Dake Wakeling and The English Beat perform "Save It For Later"

The English Beat perform their song "Save It For Later" from their final great album, Special Beat Service. Dave Wakeling and The English Beat are still touring (I saw them two weeks ago in Austin, Texas. . .click here to read that post.).


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27 years ago today, John Lennon was assassinated

John Lennon was assassinated by a deranged fan outside his home 27 years ago today. We lived in the neighborhood at the time, and could hear the sirens. I was listening to Vin Skelsa that night on WNEW when he broke in in tears, to tell us the news about his friend. Lennon had just released Double Fantasy (his best record in years) two weeks earlier. It was an incredibly depressing time, especially in New York City. Hostages were being held in Tehran, Jimmy Carter had just been trounced in the election, and Ronald Regan would be sworn in as President in a few weeks. For months fans gathered across the street from The Dakota, in what would become Strawberry Fields in Central Park.
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Skanking with The English Beat at Antone's in Austin, Texas

"skank (skāngk) noun. A rhythmic dance performed to reggae or ska music, characterized by bending forward, raising the knees, and extending the hands."

I spent the night at Antone's in Austin, skanking with Dave Wakeling and The English Beat. It was an amazing show. Dave's voice, warmth, and enthusiasm haven't changed a bit in the years since TEB broke out in 1979. They played songs from General Public and The English Beat, and some of Dave's solo work, but focused on The English Beat. For two+ hours Ska rocked the house.



They played a couple of Motown covers (including a masterful Tears of a Clown), Rotating Heads, Mirror in the Bathroom, Acklee 123, Can't Get Used To Losing You, I Confess, Tears Of A Clown, Save It For Later, Hands Off She's Mine, Doors Of Your Heart, Ranking Full Stop, Best Friend, Rough Rider, Click Click, Get A Job/Stand Down Margaret, Best Friend (with its awesome guitar lines), and probably a dozen more.

The seven piece band was lock-step tight, and clearly enjoyed themselves. The sax was piercing, the organ/piano was good, but mainly functioned as part of the rhythm section (hey, The Beat never did go much for soloing other than those signature sax lines). Dave's vocals and vocal sound effects were perfect, the drums thundered, and the chiming guitars sounded gorgeous. The new "toaster" (a kind of Ranking Roger replacement who sang and functioned as cheerleader, poet, and rabblerouser) was excellent. Over the years, I've sometimes forgotten just how great this band really is, and what a talented singer and songwriter Dave Wakeling is. And it really hit home that a huge part of the English Beat sound is just Dave's voice and accent.



This band rocked, and I mean rocked, from the first chord to the last. Unlike any show I've seen since, say, The Grateful Dead's last Seattle show in May, 1995, every single person in the audience was on their feet and dancing for the entire two+ hours. Antone's throbbed and pulsed. . .the beers were flying everywhere while people skanked and danced, and the band sucked up all the love and energy and turned it back on us. This show is officially up there in my top ten of all time.



I was again struck by the love and positivity [1] that band was always about, while not ignoring their boho (and Birmingham working class) side. They just moved up a couple of notches in my rockpile pantheon. . .and they were already high up on the mountainside.
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[1] Interestingly, I had to look up the word positivity to verify it is indeed a word and it has a meaning I vaguely knew: "the state or character of being positive: a positivity that accepts the world as it is." That second definition sounds pretty Buddhist to me, but it also applies to Dave Wakeling. He accept things as they are and his music celebrates the sweep of life, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to change it. And from what I know know of his various charitable works, he's doing it, One Smile At A Time.
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Alien Lore No. 118 -- Video and lyrics: The Carpenters' Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft

Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft is unquestionably the nuttiest song The Carpenters ever recorded. . .so out there it qualifies as an Alien Lore entry on All This Is That. Aside from Sun Ra, not a lot of modern music has focused on "visitors" alien lore, or close encounters, and for the clean-cut mainstream Carpenters to perform this song was, even in those wacky times, a real mind-f***er!

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft is a song by Klaatu, originally released in 1976. It was covered by the Carpenters with a crew of 160 musicians.

John Woloschuk, a member of Klaatu and one of the song's composers, said:
The idea for this track was suggested by an actual event that is described in The Flying Saucer Reader, a book by Jay David published in 1967. In March 1953 an organization known as the "International Flying Saucer Bureau" sent a bulletin to all its members urging them to participate in an experiment termed "World Contact Day" whereby, at a predetermined date and time, they would attempt to collectively send out a telepathic message to visitors from outer space. The message began with the words..."Calling occupants of interplanetary craft!"




Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft

In your mind you have capacities you know
To telepath messages through the vast unknown
Please close your eyes and concentrate
With every thought you think
Upon the recitation we're about to sing

Calling occupants of interplanetary craft
Calling occupants of interplanetary, most extraordinary craft

Calling occupants of interplanetary craft
Calling occupants of interplanetary craft
Calling occupants of interplanetary, most extraordinary craft

You've been observing our earth
And we'd like to make a contact with you
We are your friends

Calling occupants of interplanetary craft
Calling occupants of interplanetary ultra emissaries

We've been observing your earth
And one night we'll make a contact with you

We are your friends
Calling occupants of interplanetary quite extraordinary craft

And please come in pace we beseech you
(Only of love we will teach you)
Our earth may never survive (So don't come we beg you)
Please interstellar policemen
Won't you give us a sign give us a sign that we've reached you

With your mind you have ability to form
And transmit thought energy far beyond the norm
You close your eyes, you concentrate, together that's the way
To send a message we declare World Contact Day

Calling occupants of interplanetary craft
Calling occupants of interplanetary craft
Calling occupants of interplanetary, most extraordinary craft

Calling occupants
Calling occupants
Calling occupants of interplanetary, anti-adversary craft

We are your friends
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Happy Thanksgiving -- The Band cover Marvin Gaye's Don't Do It at their final show

31 years ago this Thanksgiving, The Band played the last time on stage. I always think about the band on Thanksgiving because of that show and the movie.

Bill Graham put the show together (along with Thanksgiving dinner for the attendees). They brought along a few friends like Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Emmy Lou Harris, Neil Diamond, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, and others. Don't Do It was their encore. Martin Scorsese used it over the opening credits of the film The Last Waltz released in 1977. It is a great movie of an epic event by a great band (R.I.P. Rick Danko and Richard Manuel). Buy the DVD--on sale at Amazon for a paltry $7.99!


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A list: favorite Bob Dylan tunes

It's not easy to pick 20 tunes from the hundreds Bob Dylan has written and sung, but you can't go wrong with any of these songs.

Maggie's Farm
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
I Want You
I Don't Believe You (She acts like we never have met)
My Back Pages
Like A Rolling Stone
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You
It's All Over Now Baby Blue
All Along The Watchtower
If Not For You
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Gates Of Eden
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
Love Minus Zero/No Limits
Hurricane
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
Ballad Of A Thin Man
Highway 61 Revisited
John Wesley Harding
Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest
Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts
Idiot Wind
Tangled Up In Blue
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Not Dark Yet
George Jackson
Only A Hobo
Sign On The Window
New Morning
Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands
Temporary Like Achilles
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
Shelter From The Storm
Positively 4th Street
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The Beatles: Please Mr. Postman video and lyrics

This is a very early Beatles tune...a cover of Please Mr. Postman, written by W. Garrett, B. Holland, F. Gorman, G. Dobbins & R. Bateman. The video is, naturally, an old American Bandstand style lip sync rendition, but still fun to watch nonetheless.





(Stop)
Oh yes, wait a minute Mister Postman
(Wait)
Wait Mister Postman

Please Mister Postman, look and see
(Oh yeah)
If there's a letter in your bag for me
(Please, Please Mister Postman)
Why's it takin' such a long time
(Oh yeah)
For me to hear from that boy of mine

There must be some word today
From my boyfriend so far away
Pleas Mister Postman, look and see
If there's a letter, a letter for me

I've been standin' here waitin' Mister Postman
So patiently
For just a card, or just a letter
Sayin' he's returnin' home to me

(Mister Postman)
Mister Postman, look and see
(Oh yeah)
If there's a letter in your bag for me
(Please, Please Mister Postman)
Why's it takin' such a long time
(Oh yeah)
For me to hear from that boy of mine

So many days you passed me by
See the tears standin' in my eyes
You didn't stop to make me feel better
By leavin' me a card or a letter

(Mister Postman)
Mister Postman, look and see
(Oh yeah)
If there's a letter in your bag for me
(Please, Please Mister Postman)
Why's it takin' such a long time

(Why don't you check it and see one more time for me, you gotta)
Wait a minute
Wait a minute
Wait a minute
Wait a minute
(Mister Postman)
Mister Postman, look and see

(C'mon deliver the letter, the sooner the better)
Mister Postman
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Video and lyrics: Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way

I have always had a soft spot for Lindsay Buckingham's music. Here is my favorite Fleetwood Mac song (a YouTube fan video, of course...but you do get to hear the song). The video beneath this is him performing the same song 20 years later on 1997's FM reunion tour. He was having a far, far better hair day!








Go Your Own Way
by Lindsey Buckingham

Loving you
Isnt the right thing to do
How can I ever change things
That I feel

If I could
Maybe Id give you my world
How can i
When you wont take it from me

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You an call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way

Tell me why
Everything turned around
Packing up
Shacking up is all you wanna do

If I could
Baby Id give you my world
Open up
Everythings waiting for you

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You an call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way
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