Happy 50th Anniversary to Bob Dylan and The Band's The Basements Tapes

Happy 50th Anniversary to Bob Dylan and The Band's The Basements Tapes. 

One of the great albums of both artists career, and the start of bootleg/outtakes albums that spawned a whole industry. 

Album Review: Bob Dylan - Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17

Bob Dylan

Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): 

The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17

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

This the review of the 5 CD release of this Bootleg Series entry. 

Time Out Of Mind holds a special place in Dylan fans hearts, because while there were fits and starts of Dylan regaining his muse in the 80's (Infidels and Oh Mercy), the 90's found him revisiting his folk roots and little else of note; then came TooM. It was revelatory, deep, had back story of Dylan's mortality, and also was his best work in literal decades. 

Now arrives Fragments, the newest entry into Dylan's amazing Bootleg series, and to paraphrase the man himself from a recent song, it proves that TooM contained multitudes. 

The apparent spark for this installment of the bootleg series was to re-release the original album with a lot of the studio tricks that producer Daniel Lanois added removed, so that listeners could get the "true" version of these songs. That smells a bit like PR spin because there is no way, even back in the 90's, Dylan would have given into Lanois in the first place, but it makes a nice story and allows us to hear the album in a new way.

That is the first disk of this set as things are certainly changed. "Love Sick" has less warble, "Dirt Road Blues" has a cleaner country feel and there is more space/separation between instruments on "Standing In the Doorway" and the majority of the other tracks. All of the instruments are a bit clearer, but it is hard to say this is an improvement, as the original contains such a mood and has been in the circulating consciousness for the last twenty five years. 

The two tracks where the new stripped down sound stood out the most was on "Cold Irons Bound" which made the song more upbeat to it's detriment and "I Can't Wait" which somehow felt more funky in this version. People will like what they like and more Dylan is always accepted, but the real meat of this release arrives on the next few disks which consist of outtakes (disks 2, 3, and 5) from these sessions and live offerings (disk 4) of the full album from various locales between 1998 and 2001. 

Rather than breaking down each outtake it is safe to say if you appreciate the bard this release will hold water. The songs evolve, mutate, and sometimes just don't work, but are always interesting. One song that was held off of TooM is "Mississippi" which has a country honk on this outtake, all of the "Not Dark Yet" versions feel to upbeat and "Cold Irons Bound" gets a spacey intro reminiscent of the live version. 

When it comes to the live renditions on the fourth disk, "Can't Wait" features a tasty guitar solo, "Trying To Get To Heaven" has a soft ballad feel and the May 21st, 1998 version of "Make You Feel My Love" is the best version of the song, ever. Some other live versions aren't as strong as I have heard in person, but having any live material from the late 90's early 2000's is a blessing, as this era was the best Dylan sounded live since The Rolling Thunder Revue.  

The final disk is a rehash of Tell Tale Signs bonus disk, which is odd, but as Dylan clears out the vaults I guess another collection of these songs is fine to own, if a bit of a cash grab. Overall though Fragments is worth the price of admission as Dylan was feeling the muse vitally during these sessions and all outtakes from Time Out Of Mind are worth checking out, here's hoping this kind of treatment arrives soon for the even better Love and Theft.

_______________

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

Coming In January: Bob Dylan – Bootleg Series 17: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997)

More Bob Dylan today on RtBE as this exciting collection, the Bootleg Series 17: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997), has been announced. The next installment of the amazing Bootleg series will be arriving in January. 

RtBE are huge Dylan fans and late era Dylan needs more love. We wrote about Time Out Of Mind when it celebrated it's 25th Anniversary in September  Needless to say we are highly anticipating this release. We almost..."Can't Wait"

To get in the mood, here is "Can't Wait" from Time Out of Mind:

More Basement Tapes from Dylan and The Band

Our Uncle's over @glidemag have broken the good news that one of the hero's of this site will be dipping into his back catalog from one of the most fertile periods of his history for his next release. Bob Dylan will be releasing his 11th Bootleg Series and this time he is giving us more Basement Tapes.

This period from when the bard played with the band is some of the best American popular music ever recorded. We downloaded some bootleg quality collection titled "The Real" Basement Tapes years back, and this may be the same thing (hopefully with better audio quality) but any which way more music from Big Pink is welcomed. 

We love The Band and obviously Bobby so much, so we are looking forward to this. Until then here is an enlightening speech from Robby Robertson talking about that era:

I think it's more then "OK" Robbie....

Full Red Hot Chili Peppers Concert!

Every month we will search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts posted to the channel.  They may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every way you can but especially by seeing them live...This month...Red Hot Chili Peppers!!!!

Ok I know I posted the Johnny Cash thing yesterday, but since it wasn't a full show of just Johnny I realized a few of you may be let down, so I wanted to share this forgotten gem from a time in the Red Hot Chili Peppers career when they were at their funkiest, and to me, at their best the Mother's Milk Tour.

So to end the summertime blues you get a second long play...This is a currently out of print VHS tape called Psychedelic Sexfunk Live From Heaven.  Staggering to see the boys blasting out from the start, and Flea shows why he is one of the baddest bass players around.  I have never really liked Anthony Keidis but at this point in career I found him more believable then as a "serious singer" that he tried to become.  Give it a watch to relive some funky freaky good times....

Highlights are the opening "Stone Cold Bush", "Magic Johnson" into "Pretty Little Ditty", the metallic "Knock Me Down" and the horny horns on "Subway To Venus".
Setlist:

0:58 Stone Cold Bush
5:19 Star Spangled Banner
6:45 Good Time Boys
13:09 Sexy Mexican Maid
17:00 Magic Johnson
18:49 Pretty Little Ditty
21:48 Knock Me Down
26:11 Special Secret Song Inside
30:55 Subway To Venus
35:27 Nevermind

Full Johnny Cash Concert!!

Every month we will search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts posted to the channel.  They may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every way you can but especially by seeing them live...This month...Johnny Cash!!!!

We all know the famous Folsom Prison and San Quentin shows but in 1976 Johnny Cash tried his hand again with the prison crowd playing a show with various friends to Nashville Tennessee State Penitentiary Inmates in a show called A Concert Behind Prison Walls, and that is the treat here today for you!


While this isn't the greatest capture of Cash's talent (and focuses a bit too much on his guests) it is still an engaging listen and I am willing to bet many Cash fans have not heard it so give it a listen.

Highlights are a perfect version of "Jacob Green" and hearing Linda Ronstadt singing "Silver Thread & Golden Needles" is pretty cool too, not so much her other stuff though and I would skip the drunk comic bits along with "That Honeymoon Feeling"...

Setlist-
1. Folsom Prison Blues (J.Cash)
2. Sunday Morning Coming Down (J.Cash)
3. Jacob Green (J.Cash)
4. Desperado (L.Ronstadt)
5. You´re No Good (L.Ronstadt)
6. Rolling In My Sweet Baby´s Arms (R.Clark)
7. That Honeymoon Feeling (R.Clark)
8. Shuckin´ The Corn (R.Clark)
9. Half As Much (F.Brooks)
10. Love Has No Pride (L.Ronstadt)
11. Silver Threds & Golden Needles (L.Ronstadt)
12. Hey Porter (J.Cash)
13. Orange Blossom Special (J.Cash)
14. Boy Named Sue (J.Cash)

Remembering Jerry Garcia

We here at RtBE have long admired Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia, and covering a Grateful Dead show per week was a staple when the blog got started.  The Dead were unlike anything else and the primary reason for that was JJ Garcia's style, playing and all around attitude.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clender

There have been a lot of tributes to the man recently (one of which we will post below) but Garcia unlike say Hendrix, had the good luck to have the majority of his live playing career recorded by the most devoted fans on the planet.  Today I wanted to showcase one of Jerry's side projects, Reconstruction.  This fantastic show was played on July 8th 1979 in Berkley California:


We recently touched on Legion of Mary but this particular group had a cool funky feel that always struck me as a bit different the other things Garcia was up too...maybe it was the time period or the drugs or what was in the air, but just check out that jamming going on about 4 and half minutes into "Someday Baby" electric stuff.  Really a stellar group of players and a stellar show to enjoy on this day (Setlist below) and click here if you want a downloadable copy.

A unique tribute by his living Grateful Dead band mates also went down this week, and it's lineup is impressive in their range and scope.  Bob Weir put together Move Me Brightly to pay tribute to Garcia.  Embedded below is the whole show and it is a doozy...you just know somewhere Jerry is smiling...and probably high...and jamming with Coltrane.

Full Pearl Jam Concert! & Download

Every month we will search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts posted to the channel.  They may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every way you can but especially by seeing them live...This month...Pearl Jam!!!!

This month we head back in time to Pearl Jam's intensely awesome Pinkpop Set from 1992.  Strap in for the ride....

What a moment...the boys were young, excited and ripping through a killer setlist (See below).  Some of the standout highlights are the Black Sabbath riffs at the end of "Alive", all the amazing riffs Mike McCready shoots off during "Leash", the all-time great version of Porch and the encore covering of Neil Young.  Woof this 43 minute part of the festival set will have to make up for Pearl Jam not touring the US summer...you can also grab the bootleg here.

I have been a PJ fan for a while now and I never knew they covered 2 of our long time favorite bands, Talking Heads & Fugazi until I heard this, granted they aren't full band covers but even the snippets are enjoyable.  Enjoy this rocker.

Pearl Jam Pinkpop Set 6-8-92
Even Flow
Why Go
Jeremy
Deep
Alive
Black
Leash
Once
Porch
Suggestion (Fugazi Cover)
Pulled Up (Talking Heads Cover)
Rockin' In The Free World (Neil Young Cover)

Full North Mississippi All-Star Concerts! Video!

So this is starting to become a pleasant habit.  Early this year it was the Beastie Boys, last year it was Phish, now it is the North Mississippi All-Stars.  A couple of weeks ago we posted our review of the NMAS Brooklyn Bowl show, well while looking for some video we found these two treats.  While not as professionally shot as the Beasties they are still more then listenable.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/memestate

 The first is from the night before we caught them in April 2012.  Turn your sound up as the volume is low but otherwise the video is fine, you can watch the full show right there:
Part1

Part 2


The next is a better video, sound is perfect except again very low volume wise, so turn it up.  Playing a car show?  Sure why not... just looks weird to see big Chew in a tie! 


And the final show is my favorite it is a NMAS Duo show from Amoeba Records in San Fransisco. 


That enough low down electric blues to keep you happy?  Hope so...If not go here to the internet archives for more North Mississippi All-Stars Free Downloads.  Now that's gotta be enough!

Full Beastie Boy Concerts! Free Downloads and Video!

Sometimes the Internet is great.  OK, a lot of the time.  In October we came across what we thought was a Youtube oddity, apparently not.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bakameh

A few weeks back when posting about Dino Jr's new DVD I stumbled across a full concert from the NYC Hip-Hop trio the Beastie Boys from Glasgow in 1999.  RtBE has previously mentioned our high regard for this group but this was something else.   

I was floored, having caught this tour back on 8-24-98 out on Long Island still think of that show as a career highlight for the band.  Touring behind their last (at the time it was just next) classic album Hello Nasty the group was energized anew with electro-beats and funky loops, but there was one huge addition.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabiovenni

Having Mix Master Mike on the turntables amped the groups live set to new heights as he kept them on their toes with unique changes and tunes ("Shimmy Shimmy Ya" in "Sure Shot" is just one example). He still did the best thing I have ever heard with "Tom Sawyer", and that includes whatever Rush does to it...Enough chatter though, thanks to siamesepuppy you can now watch a show from later in that tour in all it's frantic energy below:



Think that is all?  Not Even Close!  While doing a bit of research I found an amazing site that offers free Beastie Bootlegs to fans, insane!  So I can relive the 8-24-1998 show that I loved, you can get audio from this kick ass Glasgow performance or anything else you want...This site is truly a treasure trove for fans, Boosh!

And just to continue on this huge Beastie kick, how about another FULL concert on Youtube, this one from their more recent 2007 Tour when they played the Exit Festival in Serbia...Un-fucking-real.  Thanks to  Luda Zena1228 for posting:


Wow that is a lot to digest...best of luck tackle all that goodness this weekend.

Full Phish Show? Shh...Get in Here and check this out!

Quick back story last year I didn't produce a separate post of my favorite shows from 2010, (this year I am so, put down those flaming torches) I am not sure how or why, but one that was certainly in the running was Phish's 12-30-10 show that was simply rocking at MSG.

So imagine when my surprise when I noticed THE FULL SHOW professionally shot and cued up to the soundboard recording just hanging out on youtube...pure Boosh!

This is a Columbus Day Miracle!!!  The energy is just as high as I remember it being and the playing is super tight.  Strap in, grab a beverage and enjoy 2 sets of pumped up Phish:

Set 1:
Cities, Chalkdust, Gumbo, Quinn the Eskimo, Halley's Comet > Camelwalk, Maze, Driver, Gin, Fat Man in the Bathtub, Timber Ho, Golgi, Zero

Set 2, complete with Jennifer Dance's Pump Fake Opener
Tweezer > Light > Theme from the Bottom > My Friend My Friend > Axilla, Fluffhead > Boogie On > 2001 > Suzy


Thanks uploader, skriddler, you are the man or woman!

Friday Funday -Tom Waits Listening Party for Bad As Me

It is pure Boosh! that Tom Waits is coming out with a new album in a few months...to promote the upcoming Bad As Me he held a Private Listening Party for his fans...Peep it!


Great stuff I would love to be rocking out in that old jalopy with him...as an added bonus I left these two off yesterdays Songs About Horses post because well, I knew this was coming today...so enjoy two more Songs About Horses by the great gravel-y one...

 "Jitterbug Boy" Live in 1977 (with a long intro, actual song starts at 2:31)
"Nowadays it's Fast Women, Slower Horses...Unreliable Sources"
Their is a Live Bootleg from Australia regarding his 78 Down Under Tour that happens to be called Fast Women, Slow Horses Cough*Cough

"The Fall of Troy"  "It's the same with men as with horses and dogs...Nothing wants to die..."


Enjoy your weekend and here's hoping everyone bets on fast ponies....

Which One's Pink?!

So in semi surprising news I saw that David Gilmour and Roger Waters teamed up to play a short set this weekend.  Pink Floyd was a group that I never thought would get back together.  The whole group (but Waters in particular) strike me as having ego's lager then continents. 

When they briefly played at Live 8 it could have been cool if MTV hadn't completly shat the bed with it's coverage.  Jokes can be made how that hasn't been a "Music" channel for the last 15+ years, but to cut to commercials, making money for the company, during a charity event, before Gilmour's "Comfortably Numb" guitar solo is so pathetic it is beyond words.

That said Floyd was always a band I could care less about seeing live.   

I have a few bootleg's from various points in their career, from the early Syd Barrett days

up until their last show at Earls Court, and in reality they never were a particularly engaging live band to me. 

 

Click Here for Earls Court Live Wall from 1981

Granted this probably because they were visual/theatrical in the live setting and I am judging more on the music.  For a band that took this much time in the studio and crafted sonic adventures, the replication live holds little in the way of surprises.  They are the pinnicale of recreating their studio efforts live as far as rock and roll goes, and to me that isn't all that interesting.  I would much rather never know whats around the corner at a live show and listen to Floyd's albums on a kick ass sound system in a funky setting.

I do own all of their albums, but I find myself only getting involved with a few of them.  Most of their early output I find lacking, especially in comparison to what The Grateful Dead were doing at the exact same time.  To me the hippies out West had a head-start on the psychedelia.  

Waters is about to tour for The Wall, and I feel that has to be in the discussion of most overrated albums of all time (certainly a discussion for another post). An album that wallows in a narcissism on par with LeBron James if you ask me, besides minimal musical highlights (Gilmour's guitar solo in Comfortably Numb being one) the bile and pettiness of the lyrics are totally off putting. 

Then again I can not deny the completeness and grandeur of Dark Side Of The Moon or the simplistic perfectness of Wish You Were Here.  Animals also gets my goat'a goin', but I gotta confess I do enjoy Claypools version more...I am a sucker for that rumble.  Those 3 albums or more then most bands can dream of and are great examples of 70's psychedelic studio craftmanship.       

OK how about some videos to warp the mind:
"Set The Controls" with Uncle Frankie Z Popping Up for no reason!

"Wish You Were Here" maybe the perfect pop song.

And a pretty good video from Claypool's live covering of "Animals" I caught this tour 9 days later at Irving Plaza:

That user Deadmaker46135 has a bunch of clips from that show, and while the video isn't perfect, the sound sure is...check it out...oooh and that gets me pumped for Primus at the end of the Month!