It is of Trojan Jamaica's first official release the compilation titled Red, Gold, Green, Blue.
Everyone from Toots to Sly & Robbie were on the album covering blues tunes in reggae style. It is alright, but more hit and miss than it probably should be.
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today is a live cover by The Grateful Dead of the Dylan tune "Desolation Row"
Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this track:
A magnum opus of early Dylan. A song that is mystical and heated, politically charged while never explicit. One of the more expansive songs he has written and an early indicator that Dylan was on another level lyrically. From Ezra Pound to Bette Davis there are literary references, pop culture bits and a complete fabled world that comes alive in the ears. A true high point when it comes to Bob Dylan songs. Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist: RtBE loves the Grateful Dead. We have voted for them as the Best American Band in our favorite bar stool conversation and are showcasing them this month in our Master's Series. Thoughts on Cover:
A really solid version of this tune the Dead covered quite a few times. The bass lines from Lesh are really well placed, Brent's atmospheric keyboards and Jerry's vibrant guitar runs/backing vocals contain great flair, but it is Bobby Weir nailing the singing and lyrics on this Dylan tune which make it special. From 7/19/89 whose whole show is really top notch and forms the basis of Down Hill From Here.
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...Grateful Dead!
For July The Masters Focuses on TheGrateful Dead
July finds RtBE mining familiar ground when it comes to our Masters Series, but there is just no better summer band, so enjoy The Grateful Dead in the sunshine to end the work week. This month we have four shows from the band and we will be using the four decades they were active for each week. This week the 70's get some love, 1976 in particular.
This is a pretty famous show, with some big crowds and thanks to the magic of the internet the whole thing can be enjoy in the year 2019 and beyond. This was a great tape in our cassette collecting days, because it unequally turned up Phil's bass levels to uber loud. This video is more even but Phil is still a force to reckon with.
Excellent sound, gives the live feel and the video is just dynamite, showing the band in the prime days. Full set list and information below, including tons of "noodling" call outs from the original poster.
Enjoy:
Grateful Dead - Full Concert
Recorded Live: 8/4/1976 Roosevelt Stadium (Jersey City, NJ)
More Grateful Dead at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com
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Setlist:
0:00:00 - Introduction
0:06:05 - Sugaree
0:17:42 - noodling
0:20:16 - New Minglewood Blues
0:24:56 - noodling
0:30:34 - Row Jimmy
0:41:18 - noodling
0:42:55 - Big River
0:48:43 - noodling
0:50:29 - Loser (Incomplete)
0:55:25 - They Love Each Other (Incomplete)
0:57:16 - noodling
0:58:35 - The Music Never Stopped
1:05:10 - noodling
1:06:59 - Scarlet Begonias
1:22:23 - Crowd Noise: "Fireworks Display"
1:28:34 - Announcements
1:31:07 - Jay Green Juggles
1:38:34 - Mr. Jiggs Performs
1:47:05 - Announcements
1:49:17 - noodling
1:52:45 - Help On The Way / Slipknot! / Franklin's Tower / Dancing In The Street / The Wheel
2:42:13 - Samson And Delilah
2:49:19 - noodling
2:51:14 - It Must Have Been The Roses (Incomplete)
2:58:26 - noodling
3:02:43 - Not Fade Away / The Other One Jam / Space Jam / The Other One
3:29:47 - Ship Of Fools
3:37:52 - noodling
3:38:46 - Sugar Magnolia (Incomplete)
3:45:52 - Sunshine Daydream
3:49:38 - Crowd Noise: "Encore Break"
3:53:15 - noodling
3:55:47 - Johnny B. Goode
4:00:28 - Outro
On a steaming July night over the 4th of July weekend some of Hardcore's best took to the dark stage at St. Vitus in Greenpoint Brooklyn. The sweat was already soaking all of the black t-shirts in attendance before opener Silence Equals Death plugged in and kicked things off.
Coming from various other outfits, the band, (Scott Earth on vocals, Fred Delacruz and Wade Culleny on guitars, Brett Holloway on bass and Ryan Bertone on drums) have been at it with their bruising attack since 2011. The tunes switched between slowed down stomp sections and straight ahead punk as the group slammed. Highlights were the screaming from Earth on "End Times" and the bands knockout set closing cover of Inside Out's "Burning Fight".
Next up was Killer of Sheep and the four piece from Pittsburgh, PA delivered a more off-kilter attack with their short blasts of fury and angular riffs all supported by some amazing drum work. The group (Oyo Ellis : guitar Ollie McClellen : vox Keith Smallwood : bass Greg Mairs : drums ) used their hyper thrash style to attack the crowd who were watching more than dancing. The precision strike of "Lose Control" was one hot spot as was the thundering bass of "Thought Police" which dropped into a heavy groove propelled by the fantastic Mairs. The warbling electric riffs of "Firewater" and "The Jig Is Up" were both also chaotic as McClellen was a whirlwind; next time the pits will hopefully explode for this band.
The slam dancing kicked off in earnest for punk rock party favorites No Redeeming Social Value as the band kicked off it's old school ways with "More Tattoos" containing the only lyric rhyming scarification with bacitracin in the history of music. Classics like "Beer ='s Fun" and "Chicken" caused the crowd to slam from side to side in the tight club. "The New 64" found front man Dean Miller reminding the crowd about beers past while drummer Glen Lorieo slammed heavy on the drums for a new tune titled "Wasted 4 Life" which is a prime singalong.
The group got the whole crowd worked up for the ripping "No Regrets" as Kent Miller inserted new solo's into the old standby before the set closed around John Franko's heavy bass work in the pile-on anthem "Skinheads Rule".
Apologies to both Ramallah and Subzero as RtBE caught up with old friends at the bar during their sets and while they were certainly moving the crowd, too many drinks were consumed and not enough notes taken to review their sets properly.
RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.
For August The Masters focuses on The Grateful Dead.
While the other months of The Masters series has allowed RtBE to focus on artists we love but haven't had the opportunity to highlight, this month is a bit different. Before the Monday Dylan Cover Series began, we used to focus on Grateful Dead shows every Monday for the first year or so of the site. Here is one example from the past as we have written a good deal about them for the site, but really wanted to include them in this new series.
It is no coincidence we are focusing on the Dead during July, they are this sites vote as America's best band and they were the ultimate summer attraction with their touring hoards of Dothrak...err Dead Heads. While in the past we have spent time on individual shows (which may come up when we get to the live album post) today we are going to tackle studio albums which according to every fan of the bands (except the sites friend Lindsay) agree is not their strongest work.
The truth is, even from their earliest days the Grateful Dead always over did things in the studio, whether from the producers idea (#5 on our list) or by their own choice (#4 and #3 on our list) the band just couldn't control themselves. Some would argue they couldn't control themselves out of the studio either, but that is a different post.
That said, the band had a long and winding career with many musical phases and it was fun to go back and listen to their studio albums to put this list together. So let's start "Truckin'":
The Staten Island based funk horn/afrobeat band has always had splashes of ominous metal tinged riffs and feelings flowing through their sound but that comes to the forefront on the groups newest and one their overall strongest releases, V. Unlike a group like Brownout, Budos Band instills hard rock and metal influences into their personal sound creating a new hybrid rather than out and out covering metal bands in horn fashion.
The cover of the record could be Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings or any other mountain used for symbolism or foreboding imagery, but the tunes on the album reach just as high kicking of with with "Old Engine Oil" which is a clear Led Zeppelin meets crisp bright horns mashup; the riffs are meaty and the horn fills sharp form the get go.
"The Enchanter" continues the blaxploitation soundtrack mixed with Dungeons and Dragons feelings but does so around a bass driven groove and a baritone sax solo which pumps up the creepy factor. Each of the tunes balances deep rhythms, flush horn work and a metal spirit but a few rise up to the top of the heap.
The heavy riff work and snare slaps meld with organs to create the foundation of "The Spider Web Part. 1" which soars to a huge solo with squawking horn mix and percussion break while "Ghost Break" warbles and into the unknown while "Arcane Rambler" is the best of the bunch. That track has spaced out effects, head bopping riffs, intricate percussion and a Sergio Leone vibe ending up sounding like a cosmic spaghetti western possibly written by HP Lovecraft.
The album goes for more metal texture than pumping grooves over it's second half as "Malestrom" kicks off what feels like a stoner rock/Black Sabbath with horns influenced run of originals. "Veil of Shadows" (with dynamite trumpet work), the brief "Rumble from the Void" and mammoth closer "Valley of the Damned" all are thematically linked (as is the whole album) in this more restrained vein; if Sleep ever wanted a horn section, look no further.
While this type of blending of horn styles may fall to much in-between genres for any of the fans to really latch onto, V is an excellent mashup of emotions, power and feeling without singing one word. Budos Band haven't released any bad albums, but V just may be their pinnacle as they climb to their their own shadowy mountain top.
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Support the band, buy the album, stream it on bandcamp or below and peep some video:
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 The Grateful Dead playing "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"
Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:
An energetic romp that has been covered by everyone, this tune is a great swirl through Dylan's freaky mind. It was a punch and a whirlwind journey through Juarez, Mexico around Easter time...Maybe. There are lots of literary hints dropped, as well as a mischievous smile throughout. One of the first Dylan tunes we gravitated towards and with good reason, it is still one of our favorites. Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist: RtBE loves the Grateful Dead. We have voted for them as the Best American Band in our favorite bar stool conversation and are showcasing them this month in our Master's Series.
Thoughts on Cover:
Ahh the rare Phil Lesh lead vocal! As we mentioned back in April when we celebrated the historic Phil and Phriends shows, RtBE has no problem with Phil's vocals, but can understand it if certain people don't dig his style. As for this cover the group gives it a unique intro and outro, and Phil mixes up the vocals. A fun yet non essential dance through this tune for a July Monday...which Phil dressed for properly...how about those shorts!
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