W(TF)

I saw Neil do the Rust Never Sleeps show in Denver in 1978. If I had to pick, I think it would end up as the best concert I've ever seen. Sorry Wilco, but you are in the top three.

I envy you....and I wouldn't presume to argue that point. OTOH - if Neil's pinnacle was RNS, where Crazy Horse were the very basic garage band foundation for his brilliant creativity, then it makes me respect what Jeff's done all the more. Rather than stand on the shoulders of a "good" band playing exactly what they're told to, he's challenged himself to work with better and better musicians over the years. You may not like the Gen3 Wilco as much as the earlier versions, but they have serious chops and great chemistry. That takes effort to accomplish, and a fair bit of ego downsizing.

Great concert video: Rust Never Sleeps. Saw this the night before I went to college in 1979 - those Rust Vision glasses must be here somewhere.

Sure was. I was turning 14 that year, my friends and I saw it several times on the cinema screen. So I guess you could say I was one of the first Rusties, haha (and maybe one of the youngest). We were doing a lot of "recreationals" in those days, but the Cow Palace shows on film left a lasting impression on me...especially the performances of Thrasher, Like A Hurricane, Powderfinger, and Cortez. Still one of my all time favorite concert films.

Seriously, that looked like a snorefest. Nearly all the clips sounded like easy listening / adult contemporary.

That ain't Neil. This is Neil.

No makeup, no fancy threads, no great vocal technique, no great technical prowess on guitar, no great nothin'. Just freakin' GREAT.

I share in the parental joy of this thread...I have three kids, 14, 12, and 6.

We all want our kids to like cool music and to reject the mass inflicted crap. Just always keep in mind that every kid is different and responds in their own way and time. One thing leads them to another thing, just like all of us. The fun part (and it happens in every music loving home) is seeing the epiphany that "music is my saviour" and the effect it has on your child. Whether it happens when they hear Coltrane, Dylan, The Beatles....or for that matter Eminem, Gwen Stefani, or ABBA...really makes no difference. It's the connection.

Still, the emissions on that think stink are said to contribute to the greenhouse effect. You selfish bastard.

fixed

and Red Hot Chili Peppers (a train wreck).

Not surprised...plus that is one of Neil's most god-awful songs ever, hard to believe anyone would want to cover it.

Thanks for the review and setlist!

Absolutely, but I was contesting your assertion that it should have said, "former member," which to me is unnecessary.

He wasn't a current member of the band when he died, I think that's an important distinction.

Dunno HOW they came up with "co-founder"....maybe they ask the family what they'd like it to say in the caption? And then don't bother to research it to verify?? Weird. Or maybe some flunkie just got the Jays mixed up with the Tupelo and Uncle Wilcos.

Still makes no sense that his whole identity as a human being would be "Wilco member" when he had only spent 5 years of his life in the band, and not that recently. Anyway this whole thread confirms my current stand against network television as a whole, it's pretty much all crap apart from the sports..

Very sad indeed. My dad and stepmom raised their children in the west side of Outremont in Montreal, where Leonard Cohen, the McGarrigle sisters and the Wainwrights are indeed considered as local royalty. Kate was a wonderful singer, songwriter, and person.

Wikipedia entry for Bobby..

Bobby Charles (February 21, 1938 – January 14, 2010) was an American singer and songwriter.

 

An ethnic Cajun, Charles was born as Robert Charles Guidry in Abbeville, Louisiana and grew up listening to Cajun music and the country and western music of Hank Williams. At the age of 15, he heard a performance by Fats Domino, an event that "changed my life forever," he recalled.^[1] Charles helped to pioneer the south Louisiana musical genre known as swamp pop. His compositions include the hits "See You Later, Alligator," which he initially recorded himself as "Later Alligator", but which is best known from the cover version by Bill Haley & His Comets; and "Walking to New Orleans", written for Fats Domino. His songwriting record in the UK charts reads 7 hits, 3 top tens with 75 weeks spent on the chart.^[2]

 

"(I Don't Know Why I Love You) But I Do" was a 1950s classic that Charles composed which Clarence "Frogman" Henry had a major hit with and which was on the soundtrack to the 1994 movie Forrest Gump. His composition "Why Are People Like That?" was on the soundtrack to the 1998 movie Home Fries.

 

Because of his south Louisiana-influenced rhythm and blues vocal style, Charles has often been referred to as black, when in fact he is white.^{[citation needed]}

 

On November 26, 1976, Charles was invited to play with The Band at their farewell concert, The Last Waltz. Charles played "Down South in New Orleans", with the help of Dr. John and The Band. The performance of "Down South in New Orleans" was not captured on film however, and did not appear in the film based on the concert with Charles only appearing briefly in the concert's final song, "I Shall Be Released" (he is largely blocked from view during the song). The song, sung by Bob Dylan and pianist Richard Manuel, featured backup vocals from the entire ensemble, including Charles. It was recorded and later released on a box set of The Last Waltz concert performances.

 

He co-wrote the song "Small Town Talk" with Rick Danko of The Band. "Promises, Promises (The Truth Will Set You Free)" was co-written with Willie Nelson.

 

Charles continued to compose and record (he was based out of Woodstock, New York for a time) and in the 1990s he recorded a duet of "Walking to New Orleans" with Domino.

 

In September 2007, The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame honored Charles for his contributions to Louisiana music with an induction.

 

Charles collapsed in his home near Abbeville and died January 14, 2010.^[3]

 

I just got into him recently as well, on a labor day road trip with my brother. Never knew he wrote Walkin' To New Orleans and See You Later, Alligator. Nor did I realize he was on the bill at The Last Waltz show....

Sad news. He wrote some classics.

This is a great record, check it out if you've never heard it.

http://theband.hiof.no/albums/bobby_charles.html

I should have just said "most interesting".

Hell, even Amy Winehouse could have tacked up some votes. Or Brtiney Spears.

Why not "most prolific"?

By "prolific", all I meant (as the OP) was, "did the most", "had the most impact", "was most influential", etc. How is that so tough to decipher?

I don't mind a few Mystic Valley Band Conor songs, but his entire Bright Eyes catalogue reeks of trying too hard. His vocals and lyrics are such blatant attempts to be Dylan-esque, but they sound forced, which is as un-Dylan as can be.

 

I don't mind his more recent, slower songs, like Temazcal on the MoF album. But when he sings faster songs, like pretty much all his other MoF songs, I want to hit him.

^ ^ ^ 100% agree.

this thread is prolifically stupid.

It's guided by choices. (or lack of)

I voted for White even though I enjoy the first other three more. By no means my favorite artist but I feel that JW has been both consistent and courageous, and did a lot more than his share to keep the genre alive and kicking the last 10 yrs.

Sorry folks....I didn't have time to check back in til now. I've added Jandek and Robert Pollard to the choices, hope that helps.

I'm sure I'm missing some important people in the choices, I just can't think of who they are.

It looks like I can edit the poll and make additions, but once the votes start I'm not sure I'll still be able to.

Maybe not, but it sort of looks like there is a dude farting into a mic in the background. Next best thing?

I thought that was supposed to be Mr Jeff Tweedy paying his cheeky homage in between of the two Swedish beauties. ??

Maybe I take Lotti's posts too literally.

It does kinda look like Jeff though. Probably some poor visaless bastard named Fernando working day and night on the stage sets and forced to wear those girly white Lee denims perpetually trying to keep them free of grime and grease from the underbelly of the A**A beast. A**A's road crew commisczar kept Fernando going on coffee and stale tobacco for almost 3 months, but by the time doctors discovered the bleeding ulcer from the tainted blue amphetamines, it was too late. Knowing me and knowing you, it was the best he could do.

First of all, this could be way off base because the source is "me", and I've barely had time in the last 5-6 weeks to think about it much less verify anything. It just made me wonder what was up.

Around the time they announced Wilco would play at the Winter Games, I heard a kind of heartbreaking story about a small, poor native kids choir from Newfoundland, who made some kind of special impact on an audience and were promised by Susan Agluarkuk that they were going to perform at the ceremonies, and then later were abruptly informed that they were "not invited". Some of these families were working for the cost of the traditional dress ($500 a kid), etc., and everyone was devastated. I'm not making any of this up, it was on CBC Radio sometime last month.

Does anyone know about this? Do we care? I mean, Tony and the band would be outraged if they felt they were somehow part of a corporate monster that was replacing a band of nobody kids and their humble choirmaster from the battered island? Right? Maybe this was rectified already?

Maybe we just need to get back to basting our turkeys....I'm not here to judge, I'm just asking the questions. It did creep me out as a Wilco fan to hear this thing, which admittedly, I was only half paying attention to.

Ok...just when did Jim James become 'Yim Yames' and just what does this represent? A heavy handed attempt at speech impediment humor? (I've seen the George Harrison tribute album...so I know it isn't anything new.)

I know...it bugs me to rename him too, I just figured I'd respect his right to use a different name which I assumed was for contractual reasons. Kinda like the Wilburys did (?).

Speaking of which-- on a few songs they just absolutely NAIL the sequential vocal part thing. Listen to Baby Boomer, it's like a perfect homage to the Traveling Wilburys stuff in a way. And it's gotta be one of the 3-4 best tracks on MOF.

Iron & Wine's Around The Well was the "best" thing I heard this year, certainly the record that affected me most. It helped me through some rough times and I think it'll remain in my desert isle pile for a long time to come. It's hard to think of too many double albums with so many incredible, mesmerizing songs. The other thing that blows me away is that by the luck of crappy track naming, I've always listened to this album in the "wrong" sequence - and not only does it still hang together with complete integrity (in my wrong order), but it's generally really, really tough for me to sort the "demos" from the produced tracks.

Two other records really exceeded the hype for me-- err, well, maybe not the hype but they exceeded my expectations:

Blue Rodeo, The Things We Left Behind. I like the new album a lot. I know these guys aren't breaking much new ground sonically, but as always, they stick to what they do well and they just do it really, really well. After all these years still an underrated group in my opinion.

Monsters Of Folk, s/t. Okay, exceeding the hype wasn't even a remotely achievable goal in this case. And sure they probably could have done better than this. But it hangs together really well overall, with Mogis underpinning everything, Oberst sounding more sweet and calm/assured than he ever has, M shining through with his gifts, and Yames doing what was needful by laying low and not overtly dominating the proceedings. I think this quartet has the potential to do a lot more good stuff. Some of the songs remind me of my favorite Wilco and Golden Smog tunes, so I don't find much to complain about here.

Not Dark Yet..but it's gettin' there

Hey, I know this isn't headphones related, but does anyone have speaker recommendations? I'm on a budget and looking to upgrade for Christmas.

I'm happy to share some recos, if you'd give a little more info. (music, budget, system, room, used/new, etc)

I get what you're saying, but I dont see how practical it is to haul an amp on your morning commute down the subway. Just seems like overkill to me. Obviously there are some models which wont perform well without an amp at all...in that case I woldnt recommend them for portable use. The Sony V6's however have low power requirements so you can still at least use them for that purpose. That is one of their commonly cited strengths, and if you plan on just buying one set of reasonably priced audiophile grade headphones for both home/portable use, its hard to go wrong.

Totally agree with you, I was citing some common audiophile babble there and I got myself cured of that years ago. (I hope) When you spend, say, $1200 or $2500 on your set of handmade dream cans from Japan made of virgin-sanctified holy woods, you'll want them to sound as good as they possibly can, and that's when you start fussing over recording quality of the music, amps, high-end cables, and even boutique capacitors and resistors -- the next step after that is to throw yourself off a bridge into a cold polluted river because you realize some 4-year-old in Sudan died while you were obsessing over comparing 7 flavours of capacitors with the same 30-second clip of music.

OTOH, there are some amazingly small external amplifiers that run on a few AA batteries and fit easily in your pocket. And some of them improve the sound of your mp3 player very noticeably, especially when you get into the $300+ range.