Full Show Friday: Grand Funk Railroad Live 1974

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...Grand Funk Railroad!

Let's go back to 1974 with Grand Funk Railroad for this weeks Full Show Friday. 

Pro Shot Pro Sound, Enjoy!

 

Album Review: Bob Dylan & The Band - The 1974 Live Recordings: The Missing Songs From Before The Flood

Bob Dylan & The Band

The 1974 Live Recordings: The Missing Songs From Before The Flood

****and1/2 out of *****

The 61st release from Third Man Records Vault Series is a doozy, a triple vinyl collection The 1974 Live Recordings: The Missing Songs From Before The Flood from Bob Dylan and The Band. The title says it all as these are the songs that did not make the classic 1974 live album but were played live that tour. Each show was professionally taped so the quality and performances are top notch throughout. 

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks 42: 2/23/74 Winterland, San Francisco, CA

Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks 42 Winterland, San Francisco, CA 2/23/74

*** out of *****

As stated in past Dave's Picks reviews, the collection has already released lots of classic shows. Case in point, the following night (2/24) of Dave's Picks 42 was released earlier in this series as Dave's Picks 13. While that earlier release is a better show, Dave's 42 does offer a lot of good music on the three disks, plus a bonus disk of the previous night (2/22) for good measure.

Things take a while to truly kick into gear for the band (Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals Keith Godchaux – keyboards Bill Kreutzmann – drums Phil Lesh – bass, vocals Bob Weir – guitar, vocals) on this evening as a tepid version of "Around and Around" starts the show. This is only the second gig the band played in 1974, but already their slower, jazz based style, which would come to define the year is in place, just check out this almost too relaxed version of "Dire Wolf". 

While the sound from almost fifty years ago is impeccably presented by audio archivist David Lemieux, that is not to say the night didn't have it's issues as microphones cut out during both "Me and Bobby McGee" and "Sugaree". The almost complete Wall of Sound was working out the kinks and with the ability to skip these songs it is probably best to start the show with "Mexicali Blues" as the pirate ship (displayed on the cover art) gets righted and starts strongly sailing from here on out. 

"Here Comes Sunshine" is a show highlight and in the conversation of best ever version from the band as the interplay and blues jamming soars with the full group truly finding their way. The rest of the first set features solid (if slightly reserved in 1974 fashion) fan favorites "Jack Straw", "Deal" and a "Greatest Story Ever Told" set closer which features a smoking guitar solo from Garcia; after a shaky start, the band wraps up the first set confidently. 

The languid playing keeps babbling along as "Row Jimmy" begins set two but the other show highpoint arrives quickly as Garcia weepily weaves his way through the complete "Weather Report Suite" with fantastic playing behind Weirs vocals and strong bass lines from Lesh, leading into a funky/jazzy jam in the "Let It Grow" section before the band moves into a gorgeous "Stella Blue".  This half hour of music is restrained and fluid and very representative of the year to come.

Oddly they then move into a jarring "Big River" trying to kick up the tempo after the laid back jams, but the set never truly kicks back into gear until an upbeat "Truckin'". This leads into drums from Kreutzmann and a very spacey and dissonant version of "The Other One" which falls completely apart while also giving a preview of songs to come, jamming on "Slipknot!" which had yet to been played live. With both this exploratory jam and a solid version of "Eyes of The World" which follows, Garcia and Lesh seem to be leading the charge while speaking to each other through the music. 

The band seemed a bit off to wrap up this show ('74 in general is not known as the most rocking time for the band) as "One More Saturday Night" and "Casey Jones" are alright at best, but the encore cover of "Johnny B Goode" (put frustratingly on the second disk) features some fiery solo work from Garcia as the group wraps up the night at their home base Winterland.        

This Dave's Picks comes with a bonus disk of material from the previous night which was the first of the '74 tour. The band was finding their way with the sound of their almost complete wall and their footing as a band back on stage.  

There is not a lot worth seeking out, a passable version of  "Black Throated Wind" with rich bass textures, a very rickety "China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider" are both just OK at best, but the disk was clearly included because of the very cool version of "Playing in the Band". The group locks in and jams swimmingly with Garcia's guitar work blazing into a mid song twinkling that was actually the first teases of "Slipknot!" as he makes magic on the fretboard.   

Compared to other recent Dave's Picks releases, even others from 1974, this one comes up a bit short as a full show though the highlights ("Here Comes Sunshine", "Weather Report Suite" > "Stella Blue" the "Playing in the Band" from the bonus disk) should be heard by all fans. That said, almost any Grateful Dead is good Grateful Dead in RtBE's book, so give it a whirl.  

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Support the band, peep some video below:

Album Review: Little Feat - Electrif Lycanthrope Live At Ultra-Sonic Studios, 1974

Little Feat

Electrif Lycanthrope Live At Ultra-Sonic Studios, 1974

*** out of *****

Little Feat were at their peak in the early 70's with their classic lineup of  Lowell George – vocals, guitar, harmonica Richie Hayward – drums, backing vocals Bill Payne – vocals, keyboards Paul Barrere – vocals, guitar Sam Clayton – congas, vocals, percussion Kenny Gradney – bass. This Record Store Day release takes a famous live bootleg of the band at their best and makes it official with improved sound quality and packaging. 

Electrif Lycanthrope Live At Ultra-Sonic Studios, 1974 was recorded at a radio station out in Hempstead, Long Island on September 9th 1974 in front of a small audience of invited fans.  The sound and quality of the release is top notch as the master tapes were used and the band kicks it off with "The Fan" which is the most prog rock the band sounds on this album with flashes of Frank Zappa who Lowell played with years before. 

More in the Little Feat wheelhouse is the follow up "On Your Way Down" which hooks in with a molasses like groove as the band digs deep into the Allen Toussaint tune with grit, providing an album highlight. That slow sweet groove continues for a three song flow as "Spanish Moon" chugs along excellently before the players drip into "Skin It Back". This track finds the guitars and vocalist Barrère lacking energy but the percussion picks up leading the way into "Fat Man In The Bathtub" as Clayton on percussion proves the MVP.

Things pick up, almost sounding like a new session, as the band kick into "Rock and Roll Doctor", which along with "Oh, Atlanta" gets two versions on this release. Both of the first takes are more upbeat and rock focused while both second takes fall more into the patented slow groove Little Feat are more known for.

That patented slow sound gets to the point of near collapse on "Sailin' Shoes" proving that it is a tricky skill that Feat show off, sometimes can drag too much. That is never the case with "Willin'"though as it is one stone cold great song that George and company nail on this release. 

The final three song segue fest delivers the goods as "Cold Cold Cold" with light funk before the picture perfect guitars, piano work and singing on "Dixie Chicken". The track flows beautifully into album closer "Trip Face Boogie" which shakes along to rambling finish. Electrif Lycanthrope Live At Ultra-Sonic Studios, 1974 returns listeners to the halcyon era of Little Feat with a cool collection of some of the bands best songs in varied versions. 

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Support the artist, buy the album, peep some video below:

Beginners Guide To The Grateful Dead - Part Two

There is a lot of music out there and some artists have massive catalogs which can paralyze new listeners with overwhelming choices. This Beginners Guide series will attempt to give new listeners entry points to some of these artists. Today we will look at: The Grateful Dead.

This post was very long so we are breaking it into two parts. This first offering will discuss the five places RtBE feels are the best entry points to the band. The follow up post will dive into the different eras of the Dead and pull out some well known and underappreciated shows for further listening. 

In part one RtBE discussed live shows and albums which will ease a listener into the band. The group has such a wide range of music/sound/shows that RtBE went through the years they were active and pulled out specific highlights. While this gets long, it is literally the tip of the iceberg. The Internet Archive is a digital gold mine for amazing Grateful Dead shows, but below are are choices throughout the years for highlights and further listening. 

Let's do a deeper dive now...

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks 34 Jai-Alai Fronton Miami, FL 6-23-74

Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks 34:

Jai-Alai Fronton Miami, FL 6-23-74

**** out of *****

The 34th selection of the Dave's Picks series of Grateful Dead live releases has already seen the shows most famous part released previously, but there are other aspects of the full 6/23/74 show from Jai-Alai Fronton in Miami, FL that are certainly worth experiencing, starting with the dynamic cover art.

1974 saw the Dead break out the Oswley designed Wall of Sound speaker system and the fidelity of this release is amazing as each player can clearly be heard; audiophiles will swoon at the sound captured here. The Wall did occasionally deliver virtual bleeps and glitches (even outside of the "Seastones" experiments captured between sets) and that was evident during the opening "Ramble On Rose" but the crisp capturing can be astounding in different passages such as the skittering guitar, drums, bass and keys delivered throughout "Jack Straw".

The band was in it's one drummer, jazz rock phase with a lineup of: Jerry Garcia – lead guitar, vocals Bob Weir – rhythm guitar, vocals Phil Lesh – bass guitar, vocals Donna Godchaux – vocals Keith Godchaux – keyboards Bill Kreutzmann – drums. While a tune like "Cumberland Blues" is usually played with an upbeat folk country pacing, this version drifts more into much slower styling around Garcia's lines.

The first set contains a few rarities but the Garcia lead numbers like "Let It Rock", "To Lay Me Down" and "China Doll" are more sluggish than effective. The Weir sang efforts like "El Paso" and especially the experimental version of "The Weather Report Suite" allowed Garcia to focus on his enchanting playing, and throughout this set that is what he did best. The early highlight effort is an all-time version of "Black Throated Wind" as Kreutzman's drum work leads the band while Weir sings with restrained style over the sashaying lines from Garcia and Godchaux.
 
The second set starts with the band just noodling around (the way Lesh incorporated into his Phil and Friends shows in the 2000's) and the looseness here benefits the cool version of "Ship of Fools" which sails out of the jamming. Keith's electric keyboard work shines brightest on this version as the slow languid playing is a precursor to the 1976 style the band would move towards.

Unfortunately that slow pace kills "Black Peter" before Weir tries to energize things with a mid set "Around and Around". Garcia then opens the notes of a famous "Dark Star" whose transitions and free form flow were released on career spanning So Many Roads box set. The song threatens to drift off into the ether but Bill and Phil direct the band directly into a "Spanish Jam" based on Miles Davis Sketches of Spain's "Solea". 

This is the jolt the players needed as they seamlessly work out one of the best versions of "U.S. Blues" the band ever played, ending an impressive half hour musical journey. Things aren't over though as a very sweet "Uncle John's Band" contains dynamite solos from Garcia, a joyous "One More Saturday Night" and a ragged encore of "Casey Jones" to wrap up a wide ranging night of tunes from the band.

Fans may have had copies of this popular show already, but a Bonus Disk was also included in the release from a lesser known show, the previous night. The selections and the sound again is excellent, with particular highlights on Bill's drumming and Keith's keyboard work.

The opening expansive "Playing In The Band" wanders and is long on jazz interplay for almost a half hour displaying an excellent group dynamic. That syncopation keeps flowing on the "China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider" combo which just may be the highlight of this whole release, an all-time version of this historic pairing that is adventurous, loose, and magical. 

Godchaux and Lesh work out a solid "Eyes Of The World" before "Wharf Rat" finds Weir clanging through the Wall of Sound with rhythm guitar slams before a transition to "Sugar Magnolia" wraps up the bonus effort. This bonus disk is a joy and a great addition to the already great full show, possibly even topping the focused release.  

Dave's Picks never disappoints and volume thirty four raises the quality of a much loved show from the bands Wall of Sound era. While not an unknown gem, 6/23/74 gives the listener the best seat in the house from a summer night exactly 46 years ago today. 
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Support the band, buy the album and peep some video below:
(Not official audio)

The Masters: Neil Young - Best Studio Albums

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 Neil Young.

Uncle Neil is an artist who constantly follows the muse for both good and bad. Not everything has been great or even good (see his early and mid 80's output) but when the creative stars align he has produced some of the best classic rock tunes, which will live on forever. 

A songwriter who oscillates between screaming loud riffs and acoustic folk ballads Neil touches on all genres and sounds. RtBE tends to lean towards his louder/heavier side, and for this list we are leaving out all of his albums with Crazy Horse. This is done because basically our personal preferences would put five of those albums in this list so we wanted to separate them out with their own post coming later this month. 

Below we are picking Neil Young's best studio work, (minus the Horse, that list can be found here), but like lots of artists in our Master series there will be excellent albums left out. As always this list is a discussion starter, not a final statement on the matter.   Let's dig in...

Full Show Friday: Crosby Stills Nash & Young Wembley 1974

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...CSNY!

For August The Masters Focuses on Neil Young

A major part of Neil's career was his partnership with Crosby Stills Nash & Young. While their harmonies were the main selling point, Neil was a volatile musical genius whose contributions were helpful, but he always shined brighter than the rest and worked best as a solo artist. RtBE is going to dig into Uncle Neil's career the month, and while CSNY was popular, it is not any near our favorite work from Neil. That said, this is a cool capturing of the group back in 1974 from Wembley.

Pro shot and just OK sound for 1974. Full setlist and info below. Enjoy:

Songs: Myth of Sisyphus- You Can´t Catch Me/Word Game- Suite:Judy Blue Eyes- Deja Vu- First Things First- Don´t Be Denied- Black Queen- Pushed It Over The End- Pre Road Downs- Carry On- Ohio.

Back up musicians: Joni Mitchell-vocals Russell Kunkel- drums Tim Drummond-bass

and some others unidentified.

Full Show Friday: Messin' With the Blues 1974 Montreaux Jazz Festival

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...Messin' With The Blues!

Our focus this month in the ongoing Masters series are The Blues. 

So much fun this month focusing on the blues this month in our Masters series that we are going to wrap it up with this all-star show from 1974. Many of the artists we have already written about such as Muddy, Buddy, Junior and one we haven't mentioned, the great Pinetop Perkins, take part in this set from the Montreaux Jazz Festival. Put it on, play it loud as it sure can get funky and down right blue!  Pro shot, Pro Sound, Full set list below.

Enjoy:


Recorded live in 1974 at The Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

Songs: 

Messin' with the Kid 

Hoodoo man blues 

When You See the Tears from my Eyes 

Ten Years Ago 

Hoochie Coochie Man 

Mannish Boy 

The Same Thing

 Got my mojo working 

Artists: 

Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Bill Wyman, Pinetop Perkins, Terry Taylor, Dallas Taylor

NYPL Blog Post: Miles Davis- Dark Magus

Hey all, we got our latest post up over @NYPL. You can read it right c'here! It is our newest installment in the Great Albums You May Have Missed series with a focus on Miles Davis live disk Dark Magus.

This disk has been with us for a long time, and it is great to be able to write about it for the day job and have it finish up our Jazzy January series. We still remember grabbing a copy from the second floor of the old Tower Records on Broadway back when it was first released. It enchanted from the get go and was a perfect mix of rock/funk/jazz/punk/whatever in our brains. It was a pleasure to write about it for NYPL and again you can read the full long post here.

Also you should check out Robert Christgau's review of the disk. We will probably write more about the Dean at some point, but it is shocking how many times we will go back to see what he said about an album, after our opinion is already formed, and see him feel the same.

In this case the phrase that stuck with us that Christgau wrote was, "single palpitating organism" that sums it up. This music is as alive now as it was in '97 when the CD came as it was in '77 when they released it in Japan, as it was in '74 when the players played it in Carnegie Hall, just a short walk from the library itself. I can't imagine it won't sound fresh and amazing in 2077 and yet one more reason it was dumb of Ken Burns to not talk about fuison, electric jazz, etc in his documentary.

Enjoy "Wili" broken into it's two parts:


 

Full Show Friday: Freddie King Live in Europe 73 & 74

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...Freddie King!

This month RTBE will pay homage to The Blues with 5 special shows for every Friday in October. So get sad, get happy eat your greens and get the blues.

The man with the killer guitar face, Freddie King is our Full Show Friday this week as we still got the blues.  Out of all the blues greats we probably know the least from Freddie King as he died at the young age of 42, but god damn do we love to hear him play and sing, what a treat. Having both Chicago and Texas blues styles is a perfect combo as the weeping/fiery guitar can intermingle gorgeously. 

Simply put, one listen to him playing and singing "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" puts Eric Clapton's version to shame.

Enjoy:
 

Monday Dead: 6-23-1974 Jai Alai Fronton, Miami, FLA

Hey there, wanted to continue the Monday Dead theme, even if it is Tuesday. 

Spent this Columbus Day with friends living it up by taking my talents down to South Beach.  Had a hell of a good time and wanted to get some Miami love into the Dead Series here on RtBE. 

Today's show is 6-23-1974, listen to it via that link or stream it right c'here:

This is a monster of a show and a compelling listen whose quality can not be over stated.  A+ recording all around on this night and a perfect capture of the band in their "Wall Of Sound" hey day, and ranks as one of the crispest captures of the band from any era.  Just listen to Phil's perfect bass runs on the opener, "Ramble on Rose" and you will be hooked.  The vocal treatments are really top notch on all tunes as well.

My personal highlight from this one is magical, "Dark Star>Spanish Jam>U.S. Blues" segue that shows up towards the end of the show... and was included on the excellent So Many Roads Box Set. 

 (Here's just the "Spanish Jam")


but the group has one of their "On" nights here in Miami, even if their sound system was acting the fool all night.  Kinda neat to be the first ever Phil and Ned foray into "Seastones" which is notable if not all that enjoyable.  There is a rocking "Let It Grow" to end the first set and really beautiful melodic jam that opens set 2.  I have no idea where this Jam came from, but do yourself a favor and give it a whirl, it has a meandering quality that seems free and easy; a blissful listen that just melts into "Ship of Fools".     

This is a pretty popular Dead Show, and I don't have much time today to type, but gratefully a few other excellent blogs have posted this show and written about it, so enjoy the tunes and go here and here for some more background and pics.   

Back in the Dead Saddle Again...

Hey there peoples, I took last Monday off from posting a Grateful Dead show, because I was gloriously on vacation.  Took some time-out in the great state of Florida on it's gulf coast; soaking up some rays some rum runners and some great novels.

So for today's show I am mentally going to go back to sunny F.L.A.   Granted it is the east-side with this gem from Miami 1974, but this is a whale shark of a show and hell Miami's close enough and a ton warmer then this windy New York City.  This show is so big though it makes up for a week off... 

You can listen to the full show here on this Embedded Player or you can go over to the archive and check it out there, full setlist is below with some highlights:


The first highlight of this recording (and the first set) is how in sync and tight the vocals are for the fellas and one lady.  Singing was an incredibly underrated aspect of the Dead and starting with Working Mans Dead the group made a concerted effort to improve their vocal stylings.  Once we get past some audio difficulties the band was experiencing you can hear the harmonies at work on "Mississippi Half Step", "Jack Straw" (a personal favorite) and Jerry's aching voice on "Row Jimmy" and a super "Cumberland Blues" again all of this is in the first set!

This set also contains the Grateful Dead's only known performance of Chuck Berry's "Let It Rock":

 Though Garcia loved the tune so much he did play it during his solo outings.

The second set's anchor is the "Dark Star Jam>Spanish Jam>US Blues"  a blissful combo and the main reason why I picked this FLA show today.  My old roommate had an AUD tape of this that was good, but when this trio was released on the So Many Roads box set my ears were freshly blown.  This is some of the jazziest interplay the fellas ever threw down and an all time must hear for any Dead fan new or old that want to listen to great music for about 32 minutes (longer then some full length albums).     

In the Dark Star Jam (they never get around to the lyrics), Jerry's lead is fine, but the interplay going on just below him is The Jelly; linking snare runs and cymbal rides, twinkling keys and well timed bass entrances critically connecting all parts moving things along before they start freaking the f out (in a good way) around the 10 minute mark.  At the 15 minute mark you can hear some bass drops and a snare, Phil and Billy getting ready to start the Spanish proceedings.  I am a sucker for a good "Spanish Jam", taking the spirit of Miles Davis "Solea" from Sketches of Spain and tye-dying it up Dead style is a win/win in this Mick's music book.  This version is pure Boosh, and even has a metal flair with Jerry going to town on Wolf, Phil dropping low end and some distorted gremlins messing with the sound.  Things clean up and then get rollicking with "US Blues" while Keith friskily bangs those ivories; Loud Keith ='s Good Keith and he is the MVP on this version of a classic tune that Dead Heads seem to sour on, not me, and not the receptive crowd at Jai-Alai.         

I could go on all day with this one but I won't, go have a listen and enjoy for yourself.
6-23-74
Jai-Alai Fronton, Miami, FL 
Set 1
Ramble On Rose
Black Throated Wind
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
Beat It On Down The Line
Row Jimmy
Jack Straw
Let It Rock
Cumberland Blues
El Paso
To Lay Me Down
Weather Report Suite Prelude ->
Weather Report Suite Part ->
Let It Grow ->
China Doll

Seastones

Set 2
Jam ->
Ship Of Fools
Big River
Black Peter
Around And Around
Dark Star Jam->
Spanish Jam ->
U.S. Blues
Uncle John's Band ->
One More Saturday Night

Encore
Casey Jones