Shug

Take a listen to Fuzz Machine and see what you think. You can actually listen to the entire album on that website I linked above. Or check out his other solo records that were mentioned. He's got a new album coming out in April, I believe, too. I think he's a talented songwriter with a limited but eccentric and character-filled voice. He'll never be a mainstream hit as a solo artist, and probably no one major will cover his songs, but I think he's capable of being brilliant if you like music in his style.

I like Marc Ford's Its About Time and Weary and Wired is OK, but he made a record in 2007 called Fuzz Machine that is absolutely fucking epic to me and criminally under-heard, I think. It was a live in the studio affair (raw stage sound) of a band with his son and Muddy (who is now in CRB, strangely enough) and Dennis Morehouse right after they came off a tour and were shit-hot. Its a full on Neil Young-Crazy Horse kind of blistering guitar record, but also with what I think is very strong songwriting (some dark and angry jamming tunes) and some lovely ballads. I can never figure out who Ma

I also think very highly of Rich's perhaps under-appreciated contributions to the Crowes (he wrote most of the music when they were in their prime, I believe) and for me his solo stuff is on an entirely higher level of quality than his brother's. Rich is a taste-master, bringing in so many great influences in the last few years of the Crowes (So Many Times and What Is Home were two of my fave tracks on BTF/UTF and I'd guess it was Rich who brought in Oh Sweet Nuthin', too). I only saw Rich once on his last tour and I really regret that. I will not be making that same mistake for this tour.

I agree. I'm not a fan of CRB, studio or live. I get that they love the Dead and I do, too and I get that they want to sound like that, but just because you want to doesn't mean you can. To me, the music is not very good. To be more like the Dead, they'd need a virtuoso jazz rhythm section, at least, a probably a better lead guitar soloist. And I hate to feel this way, but Chris' hippie-speak and appearance doesn't ring true for me because there are tons of recordings and stories of him going off on people. I would not want to be on the receiving end of his wrath. I know people are comple

Thanks for the link to the song samples. It sounds pretty mellow and introspective which Marc has done well at before with a few songs, but I'm not sure an album that is mostly mellow is all that exciting. I'd like some guitar fire from Marc Ford. Maybe live versions will be more aggressive. I hope I get to see him play live. Rich Robinson also has an album coming out, The Ceaseless Sight. His might be on the mellow side, like the last one mostly was, but Through A Crooked Sun was a near-masterpiece, IMO, so I'll be happy if the new one is more of the same.

Thank you for this, maybe the best debut album ever, for those who like classic rock, that is. It also stands out, I think, because they faded so quickly. I love to use this album to check out new audio equipment.

choo choo, at least listen to the track Hung Up and Overdue. As awesome as Crawling Back To You and Wake Up Time, IMO. Plus there are some dirty good guitar tones like on Change The Locks and Climb That Hill. There are definitely some lesser known gems on She's The One.

For me, it comes down to if the replacements are high calibre enough both technically and artistically to fill the shoes of those they are replacing. Also, do they show that they have fully understood on a deep level the spirit and all the influences of what made the originals great. I love the Dickey and Duane Allman lineup and the Dickey and Warren lineups so much, of course, and I also felt that Warren and Derek easily met all of the requirements I personally have for them to be considered more than worthy replacements for Dickey and Duane. Same for Woody and Oteil replacing Oakley. I a

The Frankie Lee and Judas Priest from Philly in 1987 (or Eugene, can't remember which for sure, they only played it twice) is ripping. Its gets faster and faster and Dylan is really getting into it with the band cooking behind him like a good Cumberland Blues.

Full length video of the New Year's run in 1983 at the SF Civic. These sound like (surprisingly?) strong performances upon initial listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeGwfwJtu6w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHYB0HD_ouk#t=1593 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoLTmMfpny4#t=3560

So that was in the 80s, long after the Allmans and Dead shared a stage in 1970 and a few more times in the early 70s (Cow Palace 12-31-73 and Watkins Glen earlier that year). In the early nineties, I always wished the Dead and the Allmans would do some shows together and do some sitting in. The presence of Dickey or Warren could have really sparked Jerry's intensity, I thought. I guess this partly explains why that never happened.

No, he wasn't and I was surprised by that. Probably ego, jealousy or sour grapes. I wonder if Duane had the same opinion? 2-11-70, Grateful Dead at Fillmore East with Duane and Gregg and Berry Oakley and Peter Green sitting in is so hot, I have a hard time imagining that going down without some mutual respect.

Good point, I agree. I mean if we judged rock music just on lyrics then most of the pre-Bob Dylan - 50s- early 60s rock would be considered poor quality. "Be bop a lula, she's my baby, be bop a lula I don't mean maybe" Most rock lyrics are not poetry and aren't that impressive when isolated from the music, I think. Rock songs are good when the lyrics AND the music combine to set a mood or convey a compelling message or whatever.

Yeah, I have that on VHS and its all unedited complete songs. When theyfirst put it out on DVD years ago, they edited in talking and interviews in the middle of Blue Sky and stuff like that, a total travesty and a bonehead decision by someone or ones who obviously had no clue about what ABB fans want, uninterupted music! I'm happy they are redoing it, because 1991 and 1992 was a peak time for the ABB, IMO, and they were on fire on a regular basis, including this Great Woods show. Dickey and Warren were so fucking good together in those years!

Not much about '93 makes me want to listen to recordings of it, for many of the reasons you mentioned, vacant, but the Playin' In The Band from Cal Expo 5-26-93 is a pretty dang good one. They did put it out as a Road Trips, now sold out. http://www.dead.net/store/1990s/road-trips-vol-2-no-4-call-expo-1993-cd

Kills you as in its good, I hope. What a great song, one of McCartney's under appreciated gems, I'd say. I just ordered the Theater 1839 from the Garcia online store. It says I'm getting in on CD for $20 but its on Amazon for $40 up to over $200? I hope I'm getting CDs and not a download. They did charge for shipping, so it should be physical discs. That is weird. Is it a bonus disc that makes the Amazon prices high?

Words of wisdom from Dr. Seuss. Merry Christmas, everybody, especially to those who get discouraged by the commercialism that the corporations and the media outlets try to inundate us with. Don't let the bastards get ya down, don't let someone who only wants your money determine the meaning of Christmas for you, Christmas can mean whatever you want it to mean! How could it be so? It came without ribbons!... it came without tags!... it came without packages, boxes, or bags! He puzzled and puzzed till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. Maybe Chris

I think I have that Dark Star>Dew, but have never listened carefully. I'll check it out, sounds good with the Rhodes and all that. 6-16-74 also has Keith using lots of Rhodes and I like that sound. Thanks!

I don't know for sure, but it sure appears like Rod has sabotaged the Faces reunions while repeatedly claiming to want to do it. He's too busy doing his crappy versions of the standards and making a shit-ton of money, I guess. Now he calls a reunion without taking to Mac and Kenny? These seem like asshole-ish moves to me.

A few shows that are sounding really good to me right now, spanning several lineups: Berkeley 8-25-72 This one is a fantastic recording and performance, damn! Makes me think that there actually were nights where they sounded as good as they do on Europe '72. Richmond, VA 5-25-77 Yet another gem from May 1977 Merriweather Post 6-27-84 Help>Slip>Franklin's was really good in 1983 and 1984, I think. This is a good one. Nice Let It Grow, too. MSG 9-18-90 To Lay Me Down!

I'm gonna take a guess that you probably wouldn't like the Grateful Dead even if you were tripping. As I was trying to point above, the statement that I think people are responding to is not whether you like them or not, but rather your statement that they are more about drug culture than music.

Very few, if any, rock bands mastered and put their own unique spin on so many of genres of American music as the Dead did. The Grateful Dead were like a freaking encyclopedia of American music. People who can't see beyond the shallow, one-sided media portrayal of the band typically miss this fact. It is totally clear to me that the most important thing to the Grateful Dead was music, an authentic interpretation based on a true connection to old musical traditions, all done with a sensitivity to emotional nuances and the idea that collectively, a group of individuals can do more interesting

Thanks for the recs, Mr. Heartbreak. Brent is indeed tearing it up on the Hammond on LIttle Red Rooster on 5-1-81 and that's what I love most about his playing, aggressive and soulful Hammond playing. Nice Rhodes sounds on Friend Of The Devil and others, too. He did have a nice keyboard setup in the early 80s. It got a little too synthetic for my tastes in the later 80s). Good show!

I hope its true this time. The Faces are just about the last great band from the 70s for which a reasonable reunion is possible (I know there are those who feel that without Ronnie Lane, its not the Faces, but I'll take four out of the five and still be happy) that I'm dying to see.

Telephone Line, Strange Magic, and Can't Get It Out Of My Head are lush pop masterpieces on par with Badfinger to my ear. Living Thing, Do Ya, Evil Woman, Mr. Blue Sky, I think ELO has plenty of very good songs. The highly orchestrated slick production sounds good to me. I just don't want to hear it on Beatles or Tom Petty records. ELO seems like good music for kids, just like the Beatles. But I can see why some really don't like it.