The newest EP from the Los Angeles, CA based artist Betty Moon is her first record of original material since Cosmicoma in 2021. Titled Strangely Beautiful, the artist delivers five efforts that run the gamut of styles.
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a live cover by Dolbro Dan doing "The Ballad of Hollis Brown"
Thoughts on Dylan Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune: One of the most bleak and powerful songs of Dylan's strongest period, "The Ballad of Hollis Brown" is like the mentioned shotgun blast and story told to the listener; fierce. Instantly a kinship is felt with the central character and as the situation becomes more direr, horrific and finally (somehow) hope creeps in. The last lines are some of Dylan's best as the murder happens and yet optimism or at least irony flows through via "There's Seven New People Born"...The wheel keeps on a'spinnin'.
Cover:
Thoughts of Cover Artist: This is our first time hearing Dolbro Dan who is an alternative folk singer/songwriter from Northern Ireland
Thoughts on Cover:
An acoustic, straight ahead cover that keeps the ominous feeling and bleakness of the original. A well done cover.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Ramones!
On a day when NYC is certainly in the news, here is one of NYC's greatest bands of all-time. The Ramones. Here they are at the US Festival in September 1982...bringing the streets of NYC to sunny Cali.
The Kansas City born, New Orleans based, blues/rock guitarist Samantha Fish makes her way by performing live hundreds of nights a year and has done so for decades. Now comes Paper Doll Live, her first official live album on Rounder Records, capturing the immensely talented Fish and her band's energetic show.
Standard disclaimer: When reviewing any Grateful Dead release at this point, it needs to be noted that a lot of the truly great shows from the band have already been professionally released. (If you are new to them, check out RtBE's Beginners Guide to The Grateful Dead Part's one and two.)
With their vast back catalog on archive.org and all of their previous releases, including the ongoing Dave's Picks, the band's selections are running thin when it comes to must own, professionally released concerts.
That said, the Grateful Dead organization still release shows because rabid fans (RtBE included) will listen to everything they put out. So let's dive in...
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a live cover byplaying "Union Sundown"
Thoughts on Original: From what has become an annual tradition here and here: Wanted to pick this one for Labor Day as it is Dylan's take on the lack of US manufacturing jobs as well as the increasing flux of capitalism in society and the death of unions. The idea of greed taking over is nothing new, but this song seems to come from an impulsive Dylan (a lot do) and shows up on Infidel's of which Dylan has commented something along the lines of "Those songs stuck around too long".
Ideas seem to be a bit jumbled on this disk, but not on this tune. His lament at no good paying jobs for American workers is clear, but he isn't passing the buck. It is all of HIS products that are foreign made, this isn't a plea for change as a younger Dylan might have done; it is a simple statement of fact...and a sad one at that.
Having grown up in a extremely pro-Labor house hold, I just wanted to point this tune out and the fact that Dylan wrote it over 40 years ago, and things have only gotten worse... Happy Labor Day....
Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist:
We have featured Ron Talley a few times already in this series. Here is one more from the singer songwriter from Albuquerque, New Mexico..
Thoughts on Cover:
A good acoustic cover that Talley's says he plays loose, but is pretty solid to these ears. Harmonica and singing, along with acoustic strums, deliver real feeling.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Parliament-Funkadelic!
"Give me my flowers, while I can still smell them. Hear my stories, while I can still tell them." The legendary Cyril Neville sings these affecting lines on the title track of his newest solo album, Don't Wait 'Til I'm Gone. The 77 year-old Neville and company prove that there is still gas left in the tank over these ten, memory stirring efforts.
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