Happy 40th Anniversary Tom Waits Rain Dogs

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Tom Waits best album, Rain Dogs.

 

A wide ranging set from the troubadour/found sound musician. To RtBE, this is album Waits' crowning achievement.

Full Show Friday: Hall & Oates - Liberty Concert 1985 Jersey City, NJ

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...Hall & Oates!

Happy 40th Anniversary to Bob Dylan's Empire Burlesque

Happy 40th Anniversary to Bob Dylan's Empire Burlesque. 

While not considered one of his classic records,  Empire Burlesque has some interesting moments. The biggest issue/stumbling block in re-visiting the record, outside of the hideous cover art, is just how 80's sounding it is. Self-produced by Dylan, he let Arthur Baker (New Order, Afrika Bambaataa) do the final mixing and the result was a very of-the-time sound in 1985.

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks 49: Frost Amphitheater 1985

Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks 49: 4/28 & 29/1985

Frost Amphitheater Palo Alto, CA

** out of *****

Standard disclaimer: When reviewing the Dave's Picks series, and really any Grateful Dead release at this point, it needs to be noted that a lot of the truly great shows from the band have already been professionally released. (If new to the band, check out RtBE's Beginners Guide to The Grateful Dead Part's one and two.) With their vast back catalog on archive.org and all of their previous releases The band's selections are running thin when it comes to must own, professionally released shows.

That said, this series still exists for a reason, obsessive fans (like RtBE) will always listen to anything from the band as Dave and his team continue to unearth rare gems.

Full Show Friday: Dire Straits - Live in 85

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...Dire Straits!

Today we head to London's Wembley Arena back in 1985 for the Brothers In Arms Tour from Dire Straits. 

Speaking of Wembley, Chelsea play Leicester City in the FA Cup final tomorrow and here's hoping the Blues trounce the Foxes and lift the first of possibly two cups this year. Back to Dire Straits...

This is the band in their prime. Pro Shot, Pro Sound, full set list below. Enjoy:

Tracklist: 

01. So far away [0:00:00​] https://youtu.be/t0aXu6sWpX0​ 

02. Sultans of Swing [0:04:46​] https://youtu.be/jKHPY0oxtzs​ 

03. Why worry [0:16:10​] https://youtu.be/3-3ZouMwJhg​ 

04. Intro Money for nothing [0:21:17​] https://youtu.be/3uJZ08bZZL4​ 

05. Money for nothing [0:22:57​] 

06. Private investigations [0:28:05​] https://youtu.be/lseg_XE2tcQ​ 

07. Walk of life [0:35:25​] https://youtu.be/nCQaMt7FC34​ 

08. Carousel Waltz — intro Tunnel of Love [0:39:33​] https://youtu.be/fuH8LA_cBkc​ 

09. Tunnel of Love [0:43:04​] 

10. Solid Rock [0:55:54​] feat Nils Lofgren https://youtu.be/EfcCQlFdWkc​ 

11. Brothers in arms [1:00:25​] https://youtu.be/-dgHMxh0uF8​ 

12. The man´s too strong [1:08:18​] https://youtu.be/1-Pz9LUEU7U​ 

13. Introduction Hank B. Marvin [1:12:47​] https://youtu.be/JZWDmY6_E2A​ 

14. Going Home / Local Hero [1:14:02​] feat Hank B. Marvin 

*** Dire Straits Wembley Arena, London, UK 10th July 1985 

*** Playlist — https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...​ 

*** The Band: Mark Knopfler : lead guitar, lead vocals ; Jack Sonni : guitar ; John Illsley : bass ; Alan Clark : keyboards ; Guy Fletcher : keyboards ; Terry Williams : drums ; Chris White : saxophone.

 *** Video containing the famous concert from Wembley 1985. Great show of the Brothers in arms tour, containing powerful versions. Nice to see the two guest players Nils Lofgren and Hank B. Marvin. Picture and sound quality are both very good. The picture is taken from probably one of the best preserved VHS tapes available and the sound is taken from the best sounding audio soundboard bootleg (Perfect Investigations), except for the songs Tunnel of Love, Solid rock and Going Home but which still have good sound.

Full Show Friday: Carl Perkins 9/9/85 Capital Theater Passaic, NJ

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...Carl Perkins!

For November The Masters showcases the greats of early Rock and Roll

The King of Rockabilly Carl Perkins is the focus of this weeks Full Show Friday. Perkins was part of the million dollar quartet and a force at the birth of rock and roll. He deserves to kick off our spotlight on the masters of that era.

This show comes from a little later in his life, 1985 to be exact, and features a host of guest stars including two Beatles and Slowhand. The English guys loved Perkins with Paul McCartney famously saying, "if there was no Carl Perkins there would be no Beatles".  They pay back their idol here and Perkins himself proves that he was still going strong in 1985. Also of particular note is a young Rosanne Cash killing it mid set, a hell of lineup.

Pro Shot, Pro Sound, Set list and info below. Enjoy:


Carl Perkins - Full Concert Recorded Live: 9/9/1985 - Capitol Theatre (Passaic, NJ) More Carl Perkins at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com Subscribe to Music Vault: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF

Setlist: 0:00:00 - Boppin' The Blues w/ Dave Edmunds & Lee Rocker 0:03:06 - Put Your Cat Clothes On w/ Dave Edmunds & Lee Rocker 0:05:18 - Honey Don't w/ Ringo Starr 0:08:30 - Matchbox w/ Eric Clapton & Ringo Starr 0:11:44 - Mean Woman Blues w/ Eric Clapton 0:15:00 - Turn Around 0:18:02 - Jackson w/ Rosanne Cash 0:21:19 - What Kind Of Girl w/ Rosanne Cash 0:23:31 - Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby w/ George Harrison 0:26:04 - Your True Love w/ George Harrison 0:29:10 - The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise w/ George Harrison 0:30:49 - Medley w/ Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Rosanne Cash, Dave Edmunds, Lee Rocker 0:38:17 - Gone, Gone, Gone w/ Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Rosanne Cash, Dave Edmunds, Lee Rocker
0:40:57 - Blue Suede Shoes w/ Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Rosanne Cash, Dave Edmunds, Lee Rocker

Full Show Friday: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Paris 1985

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...Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band!

For October The Masters focuses on Bruce Springsteen

Here comes the Jersey Devil for our October Masters Series as The Boss has been wowing fans for decades now and his live shows are things of legends. All Full Show Friday's this month will be a testament to these and get ready because we have some doozy's lined up. 

Thanks to our resident Springsteen expert Tom Gallagher for curating this month's Friday concerts.

Today we jump back to Paris in 1985 at the height of Bruce's Born In The USA tour. When we reviewed his best studio albums, no other album made as much of a jump in our rankings as that one as Bruce and all the players just sound great. He is muscled up and bandanna'ed out, totally ock cliche, but killing it all over. 

That energy was translated to this tour, one of the biggest in history until that point and the crew nail it in Paris.

Enjoy:


Like the last few weeks this show is from a playlist which you can access here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL51C234F973000CA3

Full Show Friday: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble Passaic, NJ 9/21/85

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...Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble!

Stevie Ray & Double Trouble! What a Texas Tornado! From the opening supersonic "Scuttle Buttin'" to the closing "Tin Pan Alley" this is a hell of set of electric blues music from one of the greatest electric guitar players to ever come along.  

What makes this selection even cooler was that it happened exactly 33 years to the day! This had to be one of the hottest shows in 1985. Pro-shot, Pro-Sound, full setlist below, Enjoy:

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Full Concert Recorded Live: 9/21/1985 - Capitol Theatre (Passaic, NJ)

More Stevie Ray Vaughan at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com Subscribe to Music Vault: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF Setlist: 0:00:00 - Scuttle Buttin' / Say What! 0:07:29 - Ain't Gone 'N' Give Up On Love 0:14:51 - Lookin' Out The Window 0:16:59 - Look At Little Sister 0:21:06 - Change It 0:25:31 - Mary Had A Little Lamb 0:30:05 - Cold Shot 0:34:54 - Couldn't Stand The Weather 0:41:41 - Guitar Change 0:42:10 - Tin Pan Alley

Full Show Friday: Minutemen 5/13/85 @ The Stone, SF, CA

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...Minutemen!

This week we showcased various levels of unique styled punk rock so today we figured we would go back to one of the first groups to trudge those paths. We shine the spotlight on oddballs the Minutemen with a full show of theirs from 1985. One bands to come out of the 80's exactly who they are, the group is an acquired taste and (with others, like the Talking Heads) proved that punk was more of a state of mind then fashion or even a musical style.

RtBE came across the band later in life via the fantastic documentary We Jam Econo. Worth watching if this show grabs you.

This is a fan shot set but the sound is pretty god damn great. Full set list below, Enjoy:



MINUTEMEN May 13th, 1985 San Francisco, CA @ The Stone
0:00 - "The World According to Nouns" 2:40 - "Anxious Mo-Fo" 3:54 - "Toadies" 5:30 - "The Big Foist" 6:47 - "Retreat" 8:49 - "Corona" 11:03 - "Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth?" 12:58 - "King of the Hill" 16:00 - "Maybe Partying Will Help" 17:51 - "Take Our Test" 20:03 - "The Cheerleaders" 23:25 - "Surfin' With The Shah" 25:29 - "Hey Lawdy Mama" 28:14 - "The Product" 31:00 - "Dream Told By Moto" 32:29 - "Theatre Is The Life Of You" 33:54 - "June 16th" 35:45 - "God Bows To Math" 37:00 - "Please don't be gentle with me" 37:40 - "Spillage" 39:27 - "One Reporter's Opinion" 41:13 - "West Germany" 43:20 - "Jesus & Tequila" 46:45 - "I Felt Like A Gringo" 48:27 - "No Exchange" 50:22 - "There ain't shit on TV tonight" 51:53 - "Nothing at All" 53:10 - "Mr. Robot's Holy Orders" 54:54 - "Don't Look Now" 56:32 - "Tour-Spiel" 59:38 - "Two Beads at the End" 1:01:15 - "Beacon Sighted Through the Fog" 1:02:04 - "The Only Minority" 1:03:00 - "History Lesson (Pt. 2)" 1:05:15 - "Little Man With A Gun In His Hand" 1:09:22 - "Substitute" 1:11:15 - "Green River"

Full Show Friday: Run DMC 6/12/85 Ritz, NYC

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...Run DMC!

The Kings of Rock, there are none higher...Run DMC from when they were the best in the world, killing it at the Ritz (Webster Hall today for you young'ins) back in 1985. This is a hell of way to end the week, Adrock doing the intro and the masters of the turntables and microphones on stage.Yup, It's Like That!

Pro Shot (for MTV I think) Pro Sound, Enjoy:

 

Grateful Dead in Saratoga Part III: 6-27-1985

The town of Saratoga has a lot of appeal this time of year, and while there are numerous reasons why, here are a few of my personal favorites:

 The Track-  Obviously this is the major draw (besides visiting my family), but I talked about it a bit already and will talk about it more in the upcoming weeks so lets move on.

Golf-  There are some picturesque links up there and while I haven't played the new and luxurious Saratoga National, there are number of other great courses in the area that are fantastic to play.  

 The Bar Scene- Caroline Street is the center of the town and the center of the partying for the area.  There are a ton of bars worth checking out there but my favorite bar is off the beaten path a bit, The Parting Glass.

If I could take this bar and transport it to NYC I would be in heaven, with 3 rooms (1 dart room, 1 for live music and 1 regular pub-style) the bar has everything you could want for a night hanging out.  I have tons of memories from this place from lots of great nights, making a point to visit there at least once every year to grab a "Cap Codder" Sandwich and a few pints.  Some of my fondest memories are with my family catching some live tunes; we saw The Clancy Brothers there on Saint Patrick's Day one year when I was in High School

and seeing Black 47 with my father and friends making a roadtrip upstate while in college.

many other rollicking good times with lots of friends from all over (including Ireland itself).  A fine piece of the Saratoga community place that supports great  local acts as well, stop by if you are in town, worth the journey.

OK lets get to today's show from The Grateful Dead, it is third in our little trip into the bands past history with this town and conveniently the 3rd time they played there: 6-27-1985
 This is a pitch perfect recording of this show, an excellent Matrix mix created by Hunter Seamons, sounding as if you are in the crowd on this hectic night.  This was the most crowded show ever held at the venue with 40,231 people in attendance.  That record breaking audience was in for a treat as The Dead were in the midst of fantastic run of nights, even if this one would get them banned from the venue for the next three years.  I already reviewed a show from only 3 days after in Maryland, the boys were in clearly hitting their stride even if Jerry physically wasn't.

While Jerry's voice (and health) is clearly hurting all over, his guitar playing here is still excellent, and Bobby really goes overboard singing magnificently to pick up some of the slack.  Like past SPAC shows a really sweet opener lets the fans know specialness is a'comin'.  Their cover of Wilson Picketts classic "In The Midnight Hour" just oozes out after some tuning and grooves all over, it is relaxed easy playing that would be the staple of a top-notch first set, ranking amongst the best opening frames the band did during the 80's.      
"Little Red Rooster" has the two guitarists playing in circles with Bobby breaking out the slide and getting loud in a good way on this one. 

The show then has to take a break because people in the crowded house begin to hang off the balcony and the band tells them they won't play until the jokers get back into their seats.  During the break the boys tell the groan worthy "Dog/Nose" joke to entertain the masses.  Supposedly I read account years ago where the people in the balcony were dancing so much that it was bouncing up and down and there was a real safety concern that the balcony could collapse.

"Stagger Lee" winningly shows up and minus the Jerry vocals the playing here is fine.  Then the group laces into "El Paso" with Brent twinkling away and Bobby taking over the Marty Robbins classic.  The set then gets some mega highlights with "Crazy Fingers>Supplication Jam>High Time" which is a super run of dramatic scales and glorious group interplay.  Both songs work well even with Jerry's strained vocals, and with "High Time" it is almost because of them.  The desperation and ache that would make his ballads must hears in the late 80's and 90's is on display with this tune.  It looks like the band is going to end the first set the same way they have done the last 2 years at SPAC with the "Hell In A Bucket>Deal" combo, but they throw a mini-curveball with "Don't Ease Me In" taking "Deals" spot as set closer.  "Hell in a Bucket" has Jerry going ballistic on his 6 strings, and the drummers motoring along.  A great set of playing that would be enough for most bands, but we got a whole other set to get too...

 The opener of "Feel Like A Stranger" has a big time disco vibe with Wah-Wah from Jerry and some poppy bass from Phil.  It has a "Shakedown Street" feel to it as the boys are getting funky and loose with the number before going directly into an old classic with "Eyes of The World".  There is energetic playing being presented on this tune, highlighted by Brent's keyboard runs and Jerry's light airy guitar notes matching him.  The group speak in song for 9 minutes with Eyes before the move into "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad".  Showing up earlier in the set then normal it is a fun, upbeat ride that doesn't last long before the reggae splashdown of "Man Smart, Woman Smarter".     

Things naturally work there way into a "Drums" segment that goes on really long as does the "Space" at this SPAC show.  The band brings things back to song structure with one of their most beloved "Truckin'".        
While "Truckin" is all smiles before melting into "Spoonful", the energy is certainly down a little bit and "Black Peter" is never one of my favorites especially at this point in the set, I am not sure why but this tune just doesn't resonate with me.  The set closing Bobby version of "Lovelight" must have been a blast for the huge crowd and tries to end the set on a positive, if not all time memorable note.

The Double Cover SPAC Encore tradition is still alive and kicking with the band playing the Chuck Berry all time classic Johnny B Goode:
Before ending the night with Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" again like the year before.  Because of the huge crowd, garbage, marshmallow fights, naked dancing and safety concerns the band would skip the next few summers up in Saratoga, but they would return...ahh but that is for next week.  Enjoy this show, especially it's great first set (and beginning of the second). 

Monday Morning Dead

Back this Monday with a dose of The Dead to ease your work week into gear.  Hitting the summer of 1985 for this one, back in a time when Merriweather Post Pavilion had nothing to do with Animal Collective.

Here is your show for this morning: June 30th 1985.

'85 is an interesting year for the Dead as they rolled out their 20th Anniversary tour, Jerry's playing was crisp and clear but there is no denying what my friends P-Style and Mark call his "Kermit The Frog" singing from this tour.

(Someday I'll find it, the tye-dye connection)
Also I may be wrong with this, but I believe Spring/Summer '85 was the first time that the group broke out their MIDI system (which I just found out stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface).  Love or hate the Dead, you need to admit they were constantly on the cutting edge of music technology, and the MIDI usage was another link in that chain (one that long time fans still argue over it's success with the band).  You can hear it come into play in the first sets CC Rider with the guitars sounding like a Saxophone/Trumpet mix...a cool version.  This Oade Brothers recording seems to have a bit of hiss too it, the cymbals are bit high and Jerry sounds even more distant vocally, but it does convey the crowds rambunctious energy...and is flat out fun coming on the heels of a mighty SPAC show (that I am sure I will get to eventually).

The opening set is crisp and quick ("Big Railroad Blues" is pure speed) and contains the first reason why I picked this one; "Keep On Growing".  Brent and Phil are my two favorite Dead members and to hear them try out this Derek and the Dominoes tune is a joy...too bad they could never really get it right and they slaughter the lyrics, oh well...I wish they kept trying with this song, though I think they only played it live a handful of times. 

 

The second reason for posting this show is that I am feeling really good this Monday so I wanted something funky.  "Shakedown Street" along with "Miss You"

and the new Black Crowes song "I Ain't Hiding"

are the holy trinity of disco rock and this version of Shakedown which opens the second set is arguably the best representation of disco/funk Dead.  

Brent kills it on keys, the guitars cook, the crowd eats it up with a spoon...these 15 minutes are ecstasy for the eardrums. At 10 minutes they drop in some riff-y goodness that just makes your ass shake and your head bob and then they blow off the roof around the 13 minute mark, kinda makes you wish they kept this jam going even longer..but they still had a monster set to get too.  A scorching Samson and Delilah is up next before the bust out of the summer of 85.... Cryptical Envelopment starts a segue fest that triggers Drums> Space> Other One> Stella Blue, looming large and moving everything home to the Sugar Magnolia> Sunshine Daydream closer.  Hell of a show, Hell of a show...  (Full setlist and more links after the jump)

Merriweather Post Pavilion 6-30-1985
Dead.net (personal reviews are here as well)

Mississippi Half-Step
C.C. Rider
Brown Eyed Women
Mama Tried
Mexicali Blues
Keep on Growing
Big Railroad Blues
Looks Like Rain
Don't Ease Me In

Shakedown Street
Samson and Delilah
Gimme Some Lovin'
He's Gone
Cryptical Envelopment>
drums>
The Other One>
Stella Blue
Around and Around
Sugar Magnolia

U.S. Blues