Dylan Cover #617 Huntley and Niall Horan "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" Live

 In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a cover by Huntley and Niall Horan  playing "Knockin' On Heaven's Door'"

Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:
The song that seems to have been covered by every and any one, but when originally recorded it it was featured on one of Dylan's oddest releases yet. A straight ahead mournful number that just seems to work somehow and like a lot of Dylan tunes has grown beyond it's humble beginning. The song is really a testament to his amazing songwriting which can seem simple at times. The tune has invaded culture (possibly because of all the covers) and I would wager it is one of Dylan's most widely known tunes...

Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:

This is RtBE's first time hearing both Huntley and Niall Horan as we are not Voice fans. 

Thoughts on Cover:

A totally fine, straight ahead cover of the song that doesn't do a whole lot, except deliver the tune.  

New Single/Video from Emily Kinney "B or C for Effort"

Singer/songwriter (and former Walking Dead actor) Emily Kinney releases a single from her upcoming album Swimteam. 

Regarding the song Kinney states: 

“‘B or C for Effort’ kicks off Swimteam, a breakup album. It's my favorite song on the record and possibly one of my favorite songs I've ever written. And although the lyrics might seem like just a series of lyrics bitterly passing judgment on my ex (which they are), I've also always really loved the idea that earth is just a big school and we come down to earth and be human to learn lessons about love and expand our consciousness and one of the ways we do that is through relationships. 

‘B or C for Effort is’ the generous grade I gave my ex-boyfriend for the amount of care, love and attention he gave me in our relationship. Overall, the relationship was an F, but like a child with very little skill who you just want to move through the system and feel a little sorry for, the B or C grade equates to me giving him a participation trophy for just kind of showing up.”

Emily will also be performing an acoustic live stream show through the VEEPS, on Friday July 21 at 3:00 PM ET. She will be performing songs from throughout her career, including songs from her new album Swimteam. Information and tickets are available here.

Check out "B or C for Effort", a lively break up song that academically looks at a relationship with a touch of whimsy and small sense of bewilderment/anger, below:

Live Streams: Soundtrack of Our Lives - A Celebration of For The Film/TV Community

With live music on lock down (like everything else currently in New York City) live streams and old concerts have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. While this current state of pandemic separation is in order we will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and you can always check out or weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past. Please support the artists any which way you can.

Today we highlight: Soundtrack of Our Lives A Celebration of For The Film/TV Community

This benefit is for the following:

Members of our Film & TV Music community - from composers to musicians to singers to those involved in preparing, recording and mixing - are suffering from the financial and emotional impact of COVID-19. These are the people whose scores and songs transport, inspire, uplift and get us through some of the hardest challenges by creating the soundtracks of our lives. In this well-paced, pre-recorded and edited one-hour online special, stars, singers, composers, songwriters, and others will celebrate glorious moments of Film/TV Music with great heart and humor. Charity donations to MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund will be encouraged throughout the show.

A whole host of artists will be participating in today's live stream including, Jon Brion, Danny Elfman, Hildur Gudnadóttir, Nicholas Britell, Tim Rice, Hans Zimmer, Sting, Catherine O’Hara, Ming-Na Wen, Patti LuPone, William Shatner, Elisabeth Moss, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Marla Gibbs and many more...

View this post on Instagram

Coming soon! SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES, a pre-filmed and edited online celebration of the Film & TV Music community to benefit the COVID-19 Relief Fund created by @MusiCares. The show goes up at soundtracklives.com and on Rolling Stone, Variety and the GRAMMYs' YouTube channels on June 25 at noon pacific. Make sure to watch and donate! . #soundtrackofourlives2020

A post shared by Soundtrack of Our Lives (@soundtrackofourlives2020) on Jun 16, 2020 at 11:30am PDT

Tune in and support starting at 12 Noon PST (3pm EST). To get in the mood here is the master himself, Weird Al Yankovic:

Full Show Friday: Gene Vincent & Eddie Cochran Live on Town Hall Party

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...Gene Vincent & Eddie Cochran!

For November The Masters showcases the greats of early rock and roll

Two artists who have hits that soar well above their level of fame.  Everyone knows "Be-Bop-A-Lula" and "Summertime Blues" but not everyone knows Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. Here is a combo video with both of them getting after it with their respective bands. Some fantastic early rock and roll from these two.  

Pro shot, Pro sound but with some wear and tear, full setlist and info below. Enjoy:

Gene Vincent Songs 

1. Be-Bop-A-Lula 2. High Blood Pressure 3. Rip it Up 4. Dance to the Bop 5. You Win Again 6. For Your Precious Love 7. Rocky Road Blues 8. Pretty Pearly 9. Be-Bop-A-Lula 10. High School Confidential 11. Over The Rainbow 12. Roll Over Beethoven 13. Over The Rainbow 14. She She Little Sheila 

Eddie Cochran Songs 

1. C'mon Everybody 2. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You 3. Don't Blame It On Me 4. Summertime Blues 5. School Days 6. Be Honest With Me 7. Money Honey 8. C'mon Everybody

Dylan Cover #377 Lera Lynn "I Shall Be Released" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a cover by Lera Lynne  playing "I Shall Be Released"

Thoughts on Cover:

From the first time we tackled a cover of this song:
"I Shall Be Released" has been covered by too many artists to count and with reason; it is a masterpiece. A simple song that will forever be etched in Rock Legend as it ended perhaps the best concert in rock history, The Last Waltz. The Band are always connected to the tune as Dylan wrote it during those amazing days playing with the group up at Big Pink in the Catskills and the group released it on their first album. Gospel in nature the song is about salvation that can be certain, and each listener (and performer) can add their own personal feelings into the sketch, perfect for covering, especially live to close a show with friends.

Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist: 

At first blush we thought that this is the first time RtBE is coming across Lera Lynn or Ben Lewis. However, it turns out we have heard Lynn before. She was the dive bar singer on True Detective Season 2. No offense to Lynn, but that was some of the biggest let down TV in history. 

Thoughts on Cover:
A good duet on a fairly standard Bob tune, Lynn's vocals soar and Lewis's picking is engaging.  A nice spin through this oft covered tune. 

NOLA Jazzfest 2nd Weekend Starts Today!

The best festival in America kicks off's it's second weekend today and hopefully you are attending. If you can not get to the Big Easy for The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, WWOZ has the answer.

You can stream the festival through their website. This is one of the best radio channels in the country, so you should pop in and stream them regularly, but this weekend is a must if you can't be there.

You can stream the festival through their website. This is one of the best radio channels in the country, so you should pop in and stream them regularly, but these next two weekends are a must if you can't be there.

Also Leslie Michelle Derrough put together a great rundown of both weekends over on Glide which is totally worth checking out as she highlighted artists for each day and captured some quotes from people playing the fest:

RtBE will be partying down at the fairgrounds, and we can not wait, even without The Rolling Stones it is going to be a blast. Here are a few videos of non headlining acts playing this weekend worth checking out:

Dwight James & The Royals "Missandei" (Inspired by Game of Thrones!) Play Thursday.


Nathan & The Zydeco Cha-Cha's Play Friday:


Orange Kellin’s New Orleans Deluxe Orchestra Play Saturday:


Little Freddie King Blues Band Play Sunday:

The Masters: The Blues - 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 March The Masters focuses on The Blues.

The first of (at least) two months in The Masters series where the focus will not just be on one particular artist; let's face it, just one couldn't cover this topic. The blues are the foundation of rock and roll and if we chose, Muddy, Hooker, Hopkins, Wolf or King (any of them) for the monthly showcase RtBE wouldn't be able to accurately capture the full scope and breath of the, at first, so simple sounding genre known as the blues. 

By not pinning this month to a particular artist we can hopefully highlight a few of our favs and maybe start conversations about others. Also because we are focusing on the genre, their will be pieces we miss and artists we leave out, James Brown, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix are the blues through and through to these ears, but for our purposes this month we are leaving those artists who also touch other genres out of this conversation (more on them in the future).

RtBE also owns vinyl from Charley Patton, The Mississippi Sheiks and Blind Willie McTell (not to mention the amazing American Epic Series) but they are forerunners of the genre and while vital they are not making our list, particularly because full length albums were not a thing when they were recording.

For today we are going to focus on our top five studio records when it comes to what we think when we hear "the blues". This is very tough this month as the majority of great blues men were more in the live moment or making singles which were then collected into "best of's" and box sets. Breaking the rules of "album" RtBE dabbles with a few of those here, as it is how we came into the genre. We will get to "live albums" later this month but most of these studio releases are pretty raw as well.

More then any other of this monthly showcases in The Masters series there will be disagreements with these choices and RtBE will surely leave out something grand, so if people have suggestions, thoughts, ideas, feel free to hit us up in the comments. Here are our choices for top five studio blues albums. 

As always, these lists are designed to start conversations, not end them. 

Album Review: Maggie Rogers - Heard It In A Past Life

Hey all, got a new review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!!!

It is of Maggie Rogers debut full length Heard It In A Past Life.

Poppy dance laden tunes is not normally the forte of this site, but it is always great to check out new things, especially when those new things are as successful as Rogers debut album. While she rose to fame with the help of Pharrell who heard her song "Alaska" from the NYU grad (GO VIOLETS!!) and it propelled her to SNL of all places.

The two songs she played on the late night show are her two best on this album and I will post videos of those performances below. Even if you are not usually into this sort of music, Heard It In A Past Life is still a solid listen.
____________________________________________________________
Support the artist, buy the album (out Friday) and peep some video from her Saturday Night Live appearance below:

Full Show Friday: Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughn 1983

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...Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn!

Filmed for the In Session television show exactly 35 years ago (from yesterday), two blues legends go to town over the course of an hour and half. Stevie is giddy to be jamming with one of his idols and Albert seems to be having a hell of a time making his guitar sing along with SRV. It should be noted bass player Gus Thornton is laying down a hell of a solid groove throughout as well.

 RtBE highlighted In Session (also from '83) a few months back and in doing so found this gem as well, perhaps we will do a monthly spotlight in the future...for now though, just put it on and let it roll...

Pro shot, Pro sound, enjoy:


Set list 1:17 - Albert King - Born under a bad sign 9:30 - SRV/Larry Davis - Texas flood 29:40 - T-Bone walker - Call it stormy Monday 39:50 - Albert King - Match Box Blues 47:30 - Tampa Red - Don't you lie to me 57:48 - SRV - Pride and Joy 1:03:45 - Ray Charles - I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town

Full Show Friday: Johnny Winter & Dr. John - In Session 1983

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...Dr. John & Johnny Winter!

Keeping October rolling as this is a really cool find with some great playing and chatting between Texas and NOLA. Back in 1983 (the tile of the video is wrong as you will see a few seconds in) the two idiosyncratic stars (who were friends) teamed up for a set of music on the television program In Session.

Dr. John and Johnny Winter getting after it for 50 minutes, (along with Brian Russell - Guitar John Paris - Bass, Harmonica & Terry Clark - Drums). There are shorter higher quality versions on youtube, but this seems the most complete so it gets posted for Full Show Friday.

Enjoy:


Johnny Winter & Dr. John - In Session (1983)

Tracks : 01. A Right Place At The Wrong Time 02. Johnny Be Good 03. Junior Parker's Song 04. Talk To Your Daughter 05. You Lie Too Much 06. She Doesn't Mean Mistreated 07. Tipitina 08. Such A Night

Line up : Winter - Guitar,Vocal Dr.John - Piano,Vocal Brian Russell - Guitar John Paris - Bass,Harmonica Terry Clark - Drums Live Studio "In Sessions" 1983

Full Show Friday: Earth Wind and Fire 1973

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...Earth Wind and Fire!

This is the second time we are showcasing Earth Wind and Fire, but this is a completely different beast from the Las Vegas'y 1997 version of the band. Dating back to 1973, this is a less showy, more organic version of the band captured on the television show Soul. The band is working with their first major album Head To The Sky and the wah-wah gets thick in front of the excellent low end.

The grooves start at the beginning and don't stop. Pro shot and Pro sound, but the sound from '73 isn't the greatest. It doesn't detract too much from the overall enjoyment of the half hour broadcast. We also need to give a shoutout to Pa'Dukes who rates EW&F as one of his all-time favorites. Enjoy:

Dylan Cover #298 CrossFire "Masters of War"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a cover by CrossFire playing "Masters of War"

Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:
Ranking as one of his most accusatory and cutting tracks Dylan condemns the whole "war machine" on this classic and vital song (the "hope that you die" line is so facking cold, it is brutal). Often misrepresented as an attack on war itself (Dylan always said he wasn't a pacifist) this track calls out the government for using war-as-business (the Cold War in Particular) and business-as-war models when lives are put on the line for meaningless reasons. As alive and burning now as it was in 1962 when he wrote it.
Cover:


Thoughts on Cover Artist:
A duo originally from Paris, we had not heard of CrossFire before.

Thoughts on Cover:
An effecting and haunting cover as CrossFrire mixes acoustic and electric guitars with the devastating message of the song which is sung very powerfully. After recently watching Ken Burns excellent newest release, The Vietnam War, this past weekend, a "Masters of War" cover seemed apt for this Monday and this is an excellent version.

Full Show Friday: The Doors 1969

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...The Doors!

This is from 1969 and is a PBS television capture of the band. RtBE aren't huge Doors fans, but we love PBS. To be fair, The Doors live was not just a concert it was an event. Without the crazy crowd though the PBS show is a bit more tame.

Peep the video below and Enjoy!

MST3K Returns Friday! A Look Back Part 2: Our Favorites

It is pretty amazing that one of the smartest television ideas/written shows is returning this Friday with new episodes on Netflix. Mystery Science Theater 3000 gets a full on reboot on the streaming service starting, April 14th.

Original creator Joel Hodgson did a crowd sourcing campaign to get the Satellite of Love back into space, to be tormented by bad movies and it was wildly successful. For those not aware of the original show, the gimmick was bad movies (really bad movies) would play and a human with two robot sidekicks would make quick fire sarcastic retorts, 70's cultural references and intelligent quips that you had to really think about at the screen and with the viewer. The humor was all over the map, from fart jokes to grand sociological statements.

That may sound like high praise, but the show clearly took a lot from the great Monty Python in that they played up to their audience always expecting them to be smart enough to get the jokes, they did win a Peabody after all.

Yesterday we focused on the shows classic episodes. Those are pretty rock solid and almost all fans would agree those five are their most known/beloved episodes, however everybody has their personal choices for various reasons.

For instance, one episode that just missed this list is Time of The Apes a Japanese TV show cut together and then showed as a movie somehow. I use the quote "I Don't Care!" on a daily basis, and every time I watch the beginning of that episode I still laugh:


There are countless moments like these so click on that read more button and dive in...we got movie sign!!!

MST3K Returns Friday! A Look Back Part 1: The Classics

It is pretty amazing that one of the smartest television ideas/written shows is returning this Friday with new episodes on Netflix. Mystery Science Theater 3000 gets a full reboot on the streaming service starting April 14th.

Original creator Joel Hodgson did a crowd sourcing campaign to get the Satellite of Love back in the stratosphere to be tormented by bad movies and it was wildly successful. For those not aware of the original show, the gimmick was bad movies (really bad movies) would play and a human with two robot sidekicks would make quick fire sarcastic retorts, 70's cultural references and intelligent quips. The humor was all over the map, from fart jokes to grand sociological statements.

That may sound like high praise, but the show clearly took a lot from the great Monty Python in that they played up to their audience, always expecting them to be smart enough to get the jokes, they did win a Peabody after all.

There is also a direct musical connection (not including the countless musical references during the shows themselves) as Joel mentioned in past interviews that he got the idea for the look of the main scenes from an insert picture on Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Over the last year, we've had some extra time on our hands and the show we've watched the most without question is MST3K, they are constantly funny and immensely re-watchable. Thanks to the amazing fans there are tons of episodes online.

To commemorate the return of the show we wanted to take some time on RtBE to talk up our favorites. These posts are not meant to be comprehensive, you can go to other sites for more info as the internet is full of them. We are however dedicating two posts it, which will highlight 10 episodes total. Today we will focus on The Classic Episodes, tomorrow our Personal Favorite's. Click that read more below to dive into Part 1: The Classics

Full Show Friday: Mariah Carey Tokyo Dome 1998

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...Mariah Carey.

After our focus on jazz in January we move to popular arts and acts for February, staying pop with Mariah Carey this week.

Actually we are kinda surprised this artist has had a long and successful career, to even still be relevant in 2017 is a win for her. Granted, 2017 started off brutal for her with a lip sync fiasco on NYE and her recent performance on Jimmy Kimmel was brutal to these ears.  

Let's go back to 1998 and let her sing in Tokyo...Enjoy:

P.S. Happy B-Day Ma'Dukes.

Craig Finn on Late Night with Seth Meyers All This Week

All this holiday week Craig Finn will be sitting in with the house band, The 8G Band, on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

We are not a huge fans of late night TV but we will be DVR'ing these shows to see Finn with the fellas. Feel free to do the same. Below is a video of Finn playing a few solo tunes:

Full Show Friday- Cheap Trick 1979 Rockpalast

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...Cheap Trick!!!

We recently caught the episode of Live From Daryl's House that Cheap Trick was on, so we wanted to focus on them this friday. Today's concert comes from the bands 1979 tour and is a good sampling of their career to this point with some nice covers tossed in. This show is very close to their must own, At Budokan release. 

A pro shot, pro sound show that is a great way to end this fall week. Setlist below. Enjoy:

Hello There
Come On
Stiff Competition
On Top Of The World
Ain't That A Shame
Need Your Love
I Know What I Want
I Want You To Want Me
Surrender
Good Night
Day Tripper

Dylan Cover #237 Amos Lee "Boots of Spanish Leather"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a cover by Amos Lee of the Dylan tune "Boots Of Spanish Leather"

Thoughts On Original:
From the first time we highlighted someone covering this tune:
One of the first Dylan songs that really bowled me over. I know on the Times They Are a-Changin' there are a ton of epic songs but this was the track that stayed with me the longest. It is ghostly in it's presentation and still just as dynamic now as when he wrote it back in 1963. My favorite show I have seen Dylan play live was back in 1999 at the RPI Fieldhouse. The whole night was great, my favorite backing band of his since The Band, a tiny venue and a setlist that was magical. One of the major highlights was "Boots of Spanish Leather", I need to break out that bootleg this week and re-live that great night.
Cover: 

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
A folk singer from Philly, Amos Lee has been around a bit, but probably never thought he would be heard by a few million people while covering this song for a TV show about outlaw bikers...strange times. The Forest Rangers who are backing up Amos are Bob Thiele and studio musicians who helped out on Sons Of Anarchy's soundtrack over the years.
Thoughts on Cover:
A mellow take on the track, but a good one and a nice way to start the week. 

New Dinosaur Jr. Single "Tiny" Live on Jools Holland

Yesterday we were so pumped to share that the great Dinosaur Jr. is back at it, and today we can share the band's new single "Tiny".

The group played Jools Holland last night and will be focusing a lot on Europe this tour, but back here in the States we can still enjoy the catchy feedback laden rock that J Lou and Murph have distilled as their own.

Here is "Tiny" from their upcoming Give A Glimpse of What Yer Not. It sounds like every other Dinosaur Jr single...meaning its awesome. Can not wait to get the full LP in early August.