Album Review: The Black Crowes - A Pound of Feathers

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

It is of  The Black Crowes - A Pound of Feathers. 

Album Review: Lucinda Williams - World's Gone Wrong

Lucinda Williams

World’s Gone Wrong

**** out of *****

Lucinda Williams was working on her 18th studio album last spring when inspiration struck. She scraped the original idea and decided to write about the state of frightening world events. Williams, her band, and a few high profile guests dug into new topics and World’s Gone Wrong was completed quickly. The title of the record states exactly how Williams is feeling during these troubling times. 

Year In Review 2024 - Favorite Albums Part 1 (Honorable Mentions & Let Downs)

Another year is finishing up and @RockBodElec wouldn't be a proper music site if we didn't end the year with a "Best Of" list, so RtBE presents 2024's Favorite Albums Part 1 (Honorable Mentions and Let Downs):

In the instance that RtBE has reviewed the album, either on this site or elsewhere, we will link to that review and just give a quick summation; click on the name/title and you can read our full opinion. RtBE also worked with the Glide Team to give input on their Top 20 so you can expect some overlap if you already have seen that list.

Again the focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen all the way through. We know these are a dying breed, but it still is the way we consume music, no shuffle, Spotify, AI curated playlists, or streaming for us.

These are the albums that just missed out on being included in our top ten favorite for the year (coming soon). After some very excellent albums, we have a few releases from artists we dig, which we were let down by. 

Like all of our lists or 'best of'', these are meant to start conversations, not end them...

Album Review: The Black Crowes - Happiness Bastards

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

It is of The Black Crowes newest release, Happiness Bastards. 

RtBE are fans of the Crowes having seen them a ton and reviewed them a bunch. To these ears, 

Before the Frost...Until the Freeze was the best from the band, yes, even better than their first two albums. It opened them up to a range of new tunes while they still could rock. 

This record feels safe and a touch dull. Not awful, but not memorable or very exciting either. 

That said, support the artists, buy the album, read the review and peep some video below:

Dylan Cover #528 The Black Crowes "Girl From The North Country" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, The Black Crowes covering "Girl From the North Country" live.

Every April (and first week of May) we have a special focus in our ongoing Monday Bob Dylan Cover Series on artists who will be playing Jazzfest in New Orleans. Today we highlight, The Black Crowes who play the best festival in America on Friday May 6th..   

Thoughts on Dylan's Original:

From the first time we tackled a cover version of this song:

A fun little number that connects Dylan with folk's past. I heard Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair" first when I was growing up so I have always been a bit more partial to that version of this old folk tune even though Dylan changed a bunch of stuff around (obviously) with his recording that appeared on The Freewheeling Bob Dylan. His duet with Johnny Cash that highlights Nashville Skyline is something else entirely, a major sonic effort that I love. On an album that saw so many massive tunes come flowing out of the bard this one can be overshadowed yet his first version of this track is just a sweet folk ditty that has aged very, very well.

Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:

RtBE dig the Crowes.  We've seen them a bunch, reviewed them and ranked their album Before The Frost....Until The Freeze, in our top 50 of the '00 decade on Glide. We like that album even better than their debut, which they will be playing in it's entirety at Jazzfest this friday!

Thoughts on Cover:

A really solid acoustic cover from the Brother Crowes. Not a bad word to say, they nailed this jam. 

The Black Crowes Announce Cover EP 1972

The brothers Crowe have announced a new EP as The Black Crowes release 1972 via Amazon Music. 

The cover EP focuses on songs released in the year of its title and it was recorded in January at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles. 

“The year 1972 was a watershed moment, some of the greatest rock and roll songs ever made came out of that year. To get our band back together in the studio, it had to be a celebration of rock and roll,” said The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson. “This record is about love and devotion to something that makes us feel good. We hope that it makes fans around the world feel the same.”

The track list and album trailer are below and you can pre-order the EP now:

1972 Track List: “Rocks Off” (The Rolling Stones) “The Slider” (T-Rex) “You Wear It Well” (Rod Stewart) “Easy To Slip” (Little Feat) “Moonage Daydream” (David Bowie) “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” (The Temptations)

Album Review: Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - Georgia Blue

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

Georgia Blue

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

Most of the time, PR for an album is all fluff, but for Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit's most recent offering, Isbell himself wrote about the process, the inspiration and the limitations in a clear and illuminating way: 

Georgia Blue is a labor of love. On election day 2020, when I saw that there was a good chance the state of Georgia might go blue, I came up with an idea: to record an album of Georgia-related songs as a thank you to the state and donate the money to a Georgia based non-profit organization.

I will admit my motivations were a bit selfish. For years, I’ve been looking for an excuse to record these songs with my band and some friends. The songs on this album are some of my favorite Georgia-related songs, but the tracklist is not meant to be comprehensive. I would love to cover Outkast and 2 Chainz, but I don’t think the finished product would be very good. We’re a rock band, so we covered rock songs. We have roots in blues and R&B, so we enlisted some brilliant artists to help us pull off songs by Precious Bryant, James Brown, and Gladys Knight.

This cover album allows the band to try new things all for a great cause. They open up with REM's "Night Swimming" Bela Fleck's banjo picking, strumming guitars and strings make for deep layers of sound while "The Truth" by Precious Bryant bounces along with a country jaunt led by Adia Victoria. The acoustic strums and eerie vocal harmonies float along with Brandi Carlile and Julien Baker helping out on The Indigo Girls "Kid Fears" while Cat Power's "Cross Bones Style" puts a modern spin on those strings, digitizing them up with the help of Amanda Shires. 

The big rock sound enters the fray with the sweet sounding "Honeysuckle Blue" with 400 Unit guitar man Sadler Vaden leading the way while "Driver 8" finds a smooth version of the REM track book ending things while "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" fits the outfit like a glove. The best Black Crowes song also gets a stirring cover complete with Steve Gorman helping out on drums as "Sometimes Salvation" blares out power, riffs and passionate vocals as the band slays the song on all fronts.  

The band also does a sweet job with their R&B covers as Brittney Spencer gives it her all on "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" supported by horns along with Isbell's weeping guitar in the distance and "Midnight Train To Georgia" which finds John Paul White supporting the polished effort. Isbell himself delivers his powerful vocals on the iconic "I've Been Loving You Too Long", putting in a top notch performance. 

A unique album worth hearing from a band on top of their game just playing some of their favorite songs with friends, for a State they love and giving the funds to very worthy causes. Nothing negative to say about any of that. 

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Support the artists, buy the album and peep some video below:

Nugs.net Add The Hold Steady, Ziggy Marley and More

RtBE can remember downloading random fun shows from nugs.net Free Stash back in the day. There were some killer Grateful Dead and Phish shows, plus a random sampling of Black Crowes, Robert Randolph and others. Now it has evolved into one of the best live streaming sites and more. 

Recently they announced the addition of three new acts who RtBE enjoys, The Hold Steady, Ziggy Marley and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. 

The site already has some amazing artists on it and is only growing larger and better with time and new artists. To celebrate, here are tunes from each of the new additions. 

Dylan Cover #437 The Black Crowes "When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a cover by The Black Crowes playing "When Night Comes Falling From the Sky"

Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:
In the fog and haze of 80's Dylan comes one of his most perplexing songs, "When Night Comes Falling From The Sky". The lyrics are some of his best from this period, but holy god of your choice...the production was the cheesiest of his career. Empire Burlesque had a few flops on it, and it is hard not to say this track is one of them, just check out the original video for it.

What saves this song from the scrap heap is the balls out awesome version on the amazing Bootlegs Series 1-3 which was recorded with Steven Van Zandt and Roy Bitton from The E-Street Band. This yet again shows that Dylan could not pick out his best work when it came time to release it officially from the studio sessions. While the Bootleg version isn't perfect, the vocals in particular are recorded low but sung so strongly it is exciting, it makes the listener examine the tune without the "Disco Dylan" cheese playing in their ear. A song which is perfect for interpretation, and one that should probably get a definitive version at some point as it it is one of Dylan true hidden gems.

Cover:


Thoughts on Cover Artist:
RtBE dig on The Black Crowes. We are in the minority though as we think Before the Frost...After The Freeze was their best album and they were reaching new levels when they broke up in 2011 with the lineup we have pictured up on this post (Luther Dickinson fit the band amazingly). The brothers are back, strictly for a money grab, and even knowing that, we will catch them when they return to the road post Covid.

Thoughts on Cover:
Full on over top production smacks you in the ear when this cover starts as the Crowes complete with backing vocals come roaring out of the gate. Then the track has a stop/start blues groove to it before some ripping guitar work and very lively piano action. Chris Robinson truly digs into the vocals (while cutting out some) as drums slam powerfully. A very unique take that is pretty interesting in every aspect. 

Album Review: Alison Solo - Plutonian

Alison Solo 

Plutonian

*** out of *****

The singer-songwriter/multi instrumentalist Alison Solo's newest release is a mix of classic/pop/arena rock, with a backbone of the blues, as the Vancouver based artist rips it up and blows it out on Plutonian.

After a short swinging backwoods to Broadway dramatic opener "American Dream", things really kick into gear with "Chiron" which displays all of Solo's style, climbing to 70's rock radio heights around wah-wah'ing guitar solo's and a singalong ready outro. The record was mixed by the legendary Ron Nevison (The Who, Thin Lizzy) and that big rock sound is everywhere as "Glass Window" employs an acoustic opening before thundering drums and bass lines rumble around Solo's vocals with ominous undertones that recall 90's grunge.

Solo's singing is an immediate draw as she can clearly soar above the layers of instrumentation including the guitars and bass which she dynamically provides as well. Along with her ripping guitar solos and bass lines her backing vocals to herself add a dimension to the songs as she accompanies her own voice winningly. Lyrically things stay general and at an arms length while sounds go over the top at times musically, like on the keyboard amped "Beautiful and Old".

Restraint could be urged, but when songs like "Sister Rosetta Thorpe" turn out so well it is hard to argue against Solo. The number fuses the best groove on the album with a sultry vocal and powerhouse blues playing from all involved (Solo vocals/guitar/bass, James Last drums, Tony Edwards keys/organ) in a tribute to a clear hero of Solo's. The looser blues rambling of the brief "What You Hide You Can't Hurt" show that while her sound is pristine clean, a rawer/looser blues style may hold the key going forward.       

"Last One Standing" is another grooving number which could fit in The Black Crowes set list, before the album wraps up with an acoustic ballad "Old English" in Let It Bleed style. Solo does have a tendency to go long as the majority of the rock tracks run over four plus minutes and her sound is produced on a pristine professional level which sounds great, but also tends towards overproduction, smoothing over the grit/feeling of her vocals and playing.

There are a lot of parallels to Samantha Fish's style as Solo goes large and can sing and play up a fiery storm. Immensely talented with dynamic singing and superior guitar slinging ability Solo displays a ton of strengths throughout Plutonian 
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Support the artist, buy the album, stream it on bandcamp or below:

2020 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Artist Announcement

The lineup for the 2020 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has been announced!

Here is the video with the classic Dr John jam "Right Place, Wrong Time" as the soundtrack:


We got a few of our predictions right and a few wrong (Can't believe we forgot about the Black Crowes reunion), but this year seems really solid top to bottom.

Here are a few artists playing to get you in the mood:

The Magpie Salute Releasing First Album & Touring

A few weeks ago we discussed the split of The Black Crowes and showcased As The Crow Flies for our Full Show Friday. Now we talk about the flip side of the Crowes Coin as The Magpie Salute announce their first release and tour dates this summer.

For those not keeping score at home, As The Crow Flies is led by Chris Robinson with past Black Crowes members and The Magpie Salute is led by Rich Robinson with different past Black Crowes members.

Coming out on August 10th will be The Magpies first release titled High Water I. You can hear the first song from the album titled "Send Me An Omen" below. Track info and tour dates are also down there as the on going divorce in Crowe country continues.



HIGH WATER I track listing: “Mary The Gypsy” “High Water” “Send Me An Omen” “For The Wind” “Sister Moon” “Color Blind” “Take It All” “Walk On Water” “Hand In Hand” “You Found Me” “Can You See” “Open Up”

Sun, July 1 Copper Mountain, CO The Village at Copper Mountain Sun,
July 8 Thunder Bay, ON, CAN Thunder Bay Blues Festival Tue,
July 10 Buffalo, NY Tralf Music Hall *Thu,
July 12 Wantagh, NY Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater *Fri,
July 13 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center *Sat,
July 14 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center Mon,
July 16 Peekskill, NY Paramount Hudson Valley Wed,
July 18 Reading, PA Downtown Alive Outdoor Concert Series Thu,
July 19 Waterloo, NY Del Lago Resort & Casino – The Vine Fri,
July 20 East Greenwich, RI Greenwich Odeum Sat,
July 21 Fairfield, CT The Warehouse **Sun,
July 22 Silver Spring, MD Fillmore Silver Spring **Tue,
July 24 Columbus, OH Express Live! ^Fri,
August 17 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre ^Sat,
August 18 Charleston, SC Volvo Cars Stadium ^Sun,
August 19 Nashville, TN The Woods Amphitheatre at Fontanel ^Tue,
August 21 Huber Heights, OH Rose Music Center at The Heights *Thu,
August 23 Noblesville, IN Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center *Fri,
August 24 Tinley Park, IL Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre *Sat,
August 25 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre ^Sun,
August 26 Des Moines, IA Brenton Skating Plaza ^Tue,
August 28 Mankato, MN Vetter Stone Amphitheater ^Wed,
August 29 Papillion, NE Sumtur Amphitheater Thu,
August 30 Boulder, CO Boulder Theater Fri,
August 31 Park City, UT Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater ^Sat,
September 1 Missoula, MO Big Sky Brewery Wed,
September 5 Grand Rapids, MI 20 Monroe Live Thu,
September 6 Kent, OH Kent Stage Wed,
September 12 Fredericton, NB Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival Thu,
September 13 Portland, ME AURA Fri,
September 14 Beverly, MA Cabot Theatre Sat,
September 15 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom Sun,
September 16 Burlington, VT Grand Point North Festival Tue,
September 18 Washington, D.C The Hamilton Fri,
September 21 Atlanta, GA Buckhead Theatre Sat,
September 22 Columbia, SC Glass Half Full Sun,
September 23 Louisville, KY Bourbon & Beyond
* = w/Govt. Mule and The Avett Brothers ^ = w/Govt. Mule ** = w/Blackberry Smoke

Full Show Friday: As The Crow Flies 4/18/18 Electric Factory Phily

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...As The Crow Flies!

The Black Crowes are in a bitter divorce between the brothers Robinson. It seems the band and players past are split between Chris and Rich, touring and recording with one or the other and it will probably remain that way until the brothers reconcile...or a big enough check comes their way.

We loved later day Crowes, especially Before The Frost...Until The Freeze which RtBE would rank as the most complete album the band ever released. Seriously. That said the last few tours we caught them on with Jackie Green on guitar were underwhelming.

With both brothers going separate ways, Chris has mostly steered clear of his old bands songs while playing in Chris Robinson Brotherhood but he went back to the classics for this tour with an outfit called As The Crow Flies.   

Half cover band, half original, all of the good old songs. Marcus King is in the mix and one of RtBE's favorite Crowes members Audley Freed kicking ass like in the old days. This isn't pro shot or pro sound, but it is certainly watchable to get a sense of this tour both visually and audibly.

Taken just last month at the Electric Factory in Philly, here are As the Crow Flies. Full setlist below. Enjoy:

1. Remedy
   (The Black Crowes cover)
   Play Video
2. Sting Me
   (The Black Crowes cover)
   Play Video
3. Twice as Hard
   (The Black Crowes cover)
   Play Video
4. By Your Side
   (The Black Crowes cover)
   Play Video
5. Sister Luck
   (The Black Crowes cover)
   Play Video
6. High Head Blues
   (The Black Crowes cover)
   Play Video
7. Good Friday
   (The Black Crowes cover)
   Play Video
8. Almost Cut My Hair
   (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young cover)
   Play Video
9. Wiser Time
   (The Black Crowes cover)
   Play Video
10. She Talks to Angels
    (The Black Crowes cover)
    Play Video
11. Thorn in My Pride
    (The Black Crowes cover)
    Play Video
12. My Morning Song
    (The Black Crowes cover)
    Play Video
13. Jealous Again
    (The Black Crowes cover)
    Play Video
14. Hard to Handle
    (Otis Redding cover) (>)
    Play Video
15. Hush
    (Joe South cover) (> "Hard to Handle" reprise)
    Play Video
16. Encore:
17. I'd Love to Change the World

Live Review:Gov't Mule/Chris Robinson Brotherhood Summerstage, NYC 5/11/17

Gov't Mule

Chris Robinson Band

Summerstage, NYC 5/11/17

http://pancakesandwhiskey.com/2017/05/22/govt-mule-summerstage/

On a night that felt more like summer than spring, the jamband double bill was well attended with an overflow crowd parking themselves on the Central Park lawns. Opening the show and promoting their upcoming release were the Chris Robinson Brotherhood.

With their last record The Black Crowes really showed off their Band and Grateful Dead influences and now with Robinson's solo project it is clear that he was a driving force behind that. Each song during their opening set was fluid and shuffling, just like some of the best Dead songs in their catalog. While not able to jam them out for long, you get the feeling the tracks were prepared with just that in mind.

"Tomorrow's Blues" was a fine example over this style, never in a hurry to go much of anywhere, waltzing around gracefully in the summer sun. A newer song, "Blue Star Woman" continued the lazy pace with a piano intro and mid song break down before segueing excellently and jamming out for version of "California Hymn" that found Neal Casal's guitar leading the way; possessing clear flashes of "Shakedown Street". The band closed their short set with "Narcissus Soaking Wet" that allowed Robinson to get into story mode before segueing into "Shore Power", a perfect soundtrack to a New York City summer night.

Gov't Mule was actually celebrating it's 2000th show in their adopted hometown and would invite some guests out later in the night, but first the band warmed up with some of their hard rocking blues. The group's new record, titled Revolution Come...Revolution Go was featured throughout, but the group started of with heavy combo of "World Boss" off of Shout! from 2013 and "Brand New Angel" from High & Mighty,

Scaling it back for "About To Rage" Mule lost the head of steam they built up by incorporating more wandering solos and less powerful singing from front-man Warren Haynes. The old school groove lead by Matt Abts powerful drumming took the lead on "Rocking Horse" while the instrumental "Birth of The Mule" also worked. The band really pushed it up when the sun went down though with the powerful "Game Face" and extremely effecting "Banks Of The Deep End".  

The highlight of the night came when the band brought out Casal on guitar along with surprise harmonica player Bruce Willis to burn through a solid take of the blues classic "Key To The Highway". With Warren revving up his slide guitar and wonderful organ work from Danny Louis the group was locked in and the guests augmented things perfectly  Finishing their set with their burning theme song "Mule" and encoring with "Dreams & Songs" grateful fans filled out into the New York Night.
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Support both bands and peep some live video from the show below:

Full Show Friday: The Black Crowes 8/2/08 Newport Folk Fest

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 Black Crowes!

A special show that happened 7 years ago Sunday, The Black Crowes took to the stage at the Newport Folk Fest and played a unique set for them. Lots of Covers, including the opening 2 Dylan numbers are a joy. Some acoustic goodness to mix in with the electric, a joyful and easy romp for this Friday. This is actually our favorite incarnation of the Crowes, with Luther Dickinson on guitar. Pro-Shot, Pro-Sound, setlist below.

Enjoy:



Setlist:
0:00:00 - Girl From The North Country
0:04:24 - He Was A Friend Of Mine
0:09:01 - Whoa Mule
0:15:39 - Polly
0:20:47 - Delaney & Bonnie Medley: Poor Elijah/Tribute To Johnson/Things Get Better
0:28:49 - Wiser Time
0:39:33 - Movin' On Down The Line
0:46:52 - Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution
0:51:52 - Jealous Again
0:57:28 - Oh Josephine
1:05:13 - Thorn In My Pride

Album Review: Rich Robinson- The Ceaseless Sight

Rich Robinson

The Ceaseless Sight

*** out of *****

The solo Black Crowe teamed up a few friends (some new, some old) for this individual release, his 3rd such effort.  Solo disks from establish artists can be a tricky thing, sometimes people take on alter egos to slip into something totally different marking a 180 degree turn from their bread and butter or sometimes the artist just wants to put out more music then fellow band members are ready for. The Ceaseless Sight falls squarely into the second category; it is hard to hear these songs and not think, what would this sound like as a Black Crowes record?  

Roots rock with a flourish of the blues, folk and soul appear on all the songs as Rich takes center stage. Robinson has become much more confident in his singing/lyrics and that is evident throughout, however their are times where he still pushes the music towards the forefront and lowers the vocals. Opener "I Know You" is a stuttering blues jaunt in the vein of The Rolling Stones or  The Band with various sections that don't always flow so smoothly into each other while "I Remember" does things more direct and successfully. 

The album was written with drummer Joe Magistro who Robinson has worked with before but it is the newcomers who inject some of the disk highlights. Keyboardist Marco Benevento is a joy to listen to as he shines throughout but particularly during the piano break on "One Road Hill". Amy Helm also adds beautiful harmonies to "The Giving Key" while Robinson's own six strings take over for the Allman Brother influenced "In Comes The Night".   

The Black Crowes seem to go on hiatus every other year and the brothers Robinson have been notorious for their blow ups and internal band politics. While The Ceaseless Sight is a solid release it is hard to not wonder how brother Chris would attack a song like "The Unfortunate Show", with its strutting Stones-like vibe, or the funky "Inside". Even without the rest of the team Robinson has crafted a disk Crowe fans will enjoy because it is basically a Black Crowes disk minus a few parts. 
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Support the artist here, you can stream the album for a limited time at Rolling Stone here, buy the album here, and peep some video below:

Album Review: The Black Crowes -Wiser For The Time

The Black Crowes

Wiser For The Time

** out of *****

Back in the late fall of 2010 The Black Crowes embarked on their Say Goodnight To The Bad Guys Tour as the band was looking at (another!) hiatus from playing live. The band was on a creative and performing high as the group and decided to make the shows 2 sets one acoustic, one electric that flex the bands musical muscles and satisfied long time fans as covers, deep cuts and favorites all were showcased.

The group has moved pretty heavy into the jamband world with each show being unique in playing and song selection. This has allowed the Crowes to work closely with nugs.net to release the majority of their live performances directly to the fan base via sound board recordings. However, after the bands elongated run at New York City's Best Buy Theater, the shows from that stand never were made available, with the rumor being an official live release would showcase those amazing nights of music. Wiser For The Time is that release and an odd one at that.

Being offered in a predominately vinyl format (also digital, but no CD's) the band made this a fan's focus rather then a widespread showcase of the nights. Also by combining the 4 night run into one release (granted a long one) the ebb/flow of a particular setlist and performance becomes altered.

This may have been the bands most diverse and strongest lineups, so the range on the album is excellent. On the first (acoustic) set of playing, "Downtown Money Waster", "Garden Gate" and "Better When Your Not Alone", all work in their own unique skins. The highlight of the first batch of tunes comes in the form of the Crowes covering "Hot Burrito #1" and "Hot Burrito #2" by The Flying Burrito Brothers.

When the band turns up the electricity the group energy bubbles up. "Tied Up and Swallowed" and "A Conspiracy" are both great, but the highlights here are the immaculate "Title Song" and "No Speak No Slave" whose intro sends chills up the spine. Closing with a cover of Little Feat's "Willin'" the band let it all hang out, but the energy doesn't seem exhausted.

There isn't a version of any song here that makes it a must own, or reinvents it in a way fans were dying for, yet all are professionally done. Quality wise things aren't crisper or alive then any of the downloads offered. The packaging also leaves a lot to be desired, which leads to the question of why this was released? 

Having seen one of the shows showcased here I can speak directly to the power the band brought to NYC and the dynamic playing Luther, Chris, Rich and the boys (and girls) displayed during this run, I just don't think that translates to this release unfortunately.
  
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Wiser For The Time is Ok, but wouldn't it have been cooler to offer 4 shows in their entirety, even on vinyl, or keeping this special collection then just posting all the shows on Nugs.net after the fact? This mix/release cuts the overall vibe The Black Crowes achieved during this incarnation, I guess you just had to be there.  This reminded us of another release we felt the same way about.  Anyway...

Support the band here, buy the album here and peep some video from this run of shows here:     
"Title Song"

"Better When Your Not Alone"

Live Review: The Black Crowes 10-26-13 Terminal 5, NYC

Hey All, Got a new review up on Glide.

Read it Right C'here!!!

 

It is of the recent Black Crowes and Blind Boys of Alabama Show from Terminal 5 a few weeks ago in NYC.

We were excited to catch the Blind Boys of Alabama for the first time and were very glad we did as they were the highlight on this night. The group sounded glorious and strong, and their choice of covers was just sensational. They didn't do much (if anything) from their new album but that didn't matter, the performance was great.

Not so much for the Crowes. They just seemed a bit tired and to be going through the motions as their most recent hiatus looms. I don't think Jackie Greene is a great fit for the band, when Rich Robinson started playing lead the songs seemed to just work better, "Thorn In My Pride" being the best example.

I will have more from both of these bands in the next couple of days, so stay tuned. Peep some video in the meantime:

 

Album Review: North Mississippi All-Stars -World Boogie Is Coming

North Mississippi All-Stars

World Boogie Is Coming

*** out of *****

Early into World Boogie Is Coming the Dickinson brothers cover the blues classic "Rollin 'n Tumblin" but this ain't your grandpappy's take on the tune as a revved up sludgy 2 string guitar (whose body is a coffee can) riffs away before a banjo break, all this stomps around samples and turntable scratching; this is blues for the digital generation.

Not being afraid of experimentation, The North Mississippi All-Stars (Cody and Luther Dickinson) have created more of a feel disk then a structured album. With their last release, 2011's excellent Keys To The Kingdom, the band paid tribute to their late father with the best written songs of their career. On World Boogie Is Coming the songs are secondary, or third, or fourth...it is the vibe, soul, playing style and blending their hills country blues past with the future that takes precedence. Drum rolls end some songs and leisurely begin others like when the opening instrumental "Jr." flows into "Goat Meat" the latter getting spiced with Robert Plant's harmonica.

There are lots of guests here helping the brothers out, everyone from RL Burnside's sons Gary and Duwayne to Sharde Thomas come to help the party along. Music blends with found sounds, like rain, footsteps, etc to give a field recording feel to things as the players tackle Hill Country Boogie like Junior Kimbrough's "I'm Leaving". The group is far from beholden to the originals though, putting a delicate sweet spin on another Kimbrough tune "Meet Me In The City" when they aren't digging into samples and loops.              
While this is a excellent document of the times and a snapshot of the countryside (especially with the video work done by Cody) the album as a whole isn't particularly long lasting or memorable when the boogie winds down. The best tracks here (the electro slithering cover of Burnside's "Snake Drive" and previously mentioned "Rollin 'n Tumblin") are worth returning too, but otherwise the testament itself speaks louder then any songs. Long time fans may also be disappointed that there isn't a killer Luther 6 string assault present but all the experimentation lends itself to the live stage where the brothers truly butter their biscuits.

One thing that stands out is the most "rock" song here, "Turn Up Satan", sounds a bit half baked and it leads to wondering how this track would have worked if Luther was still playing with The Black Crowes. Hearing Chris Robinson wail on this one with some input from a set group of players may have enhanced it to greater heights. The rock roll will come later though as the NMAS have backwoods flowing through their instruments this time around.    

The brothers love their country, local people and most importantly the music and a disk like this will help the blues into the future while keeping it's past roots. The jammy-ness, digital samples and freedom may not be common in the blues but the boogie will never die.
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Not much more to say, we have always dug the group and they obviously feel very connected to this music, check out this interview on the recording of the disk, more insightful then I could ever be:


Support the band here, buy the disk here, and peep some samples below:
"Rollin' & Tumblin'"

"Meet Me In The City"

Full Show Friday: The Black Crowes Pinkpop May 31, 1993

Last year we searched the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and posted them to the site monthly.  That was all well and good but this year RtBE is upping the ante with a show every week to 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 Black Crowes!

RtBE has loved The Black Crowes recent output, especially when Luther Dickinson was in the band, but we never were massive fans back in the day; probably because we never caught a set like this. While I would argue they have become a better more diverse band as they have aged, you can't deny the rock star swagger the boys pull of at this Norwegian Festival back in 1993.

A TV stream of the show, video is great, sound top notch, after the brief intro the boys kick ass with "No Speak, No Slave" get southern fried harp from Chris Robinson before "Thorn In My Pride". There are interviews and voice overs sprinkled throughout but it is pretty watchable start to finish.

A touch of Marley after "Stare It Cold"and their big cover hit to close and you got a killer set, Enjoy: