DaveO, Author at Glide Magazine

Cover Wars: Cortez The Killer Edition

DaveO December 29, 2009 19 Comments

[Originally Published: May 19, 2009]

This three-chord ditty, loosely based on Hernán Cortés, is originally off the 1970 Neil Young & Crazy Horse album Zuma. The simplicity and shear length of the tune makes it a prime candidate for cover renditions, and more of then than not… guest appearances. Often times those sit-ins include Neil Young himself as Neil has played Cortez with two of this week’s contestants.

Cover Wars

Fun fact: the original take had an extra verse at the end that was lost due to a problem in the studio. When Neil was informed of the glitch he simply responded, “I never liked that verse anyway.” Checking in on last week, moe. and Umphrey’s McGee are still battling it out in the Can’t You Hear Me Knocking Cover Wars, so head on over there and help settle the score.

The Contestants:

Built To Spill: Single. Double. No, Triple Guitars! This twenty-minute romp was recorded during the 1999 Keep It Like A Secret Tour. We’ve got a lot of distinct voices this week, but perhaps none more unique than Built To Spill’s Doug Martsch. Source: Live

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/builtcortez.mp3]

READ ON to hear and vote on the rest of this week’s contestants…

Last Week’s Sauce: December 14th – 20th

DaveO December 23, 2009 3 Comments

Last Week’s Sauce features recordings of shows from the previous week.

archivalaudio

[Thanks to archivalaudio for this week’s photo]

Artist & Title: Boston Horns – Crosstown Traffic
Date & Venue: 2009-12-18 Strange Brew Tavern, Manchester NH
Taper & Show Download: corey the groundhog

Don’t see a lot of tapes for the Boston Horns show up on the Live Music Archive, so I was psyched to see this pop up this week. Their drummer, Peter MacLean, is an old friend of mine and can be seen all around Boston playing in various groups. The Boston Horns next play January 16th at Ryle’s Jazz Club in Cambridge.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/bostonhornsauce.mp3]

READ ON for a track from Brock Butler’s new record, Garaj Mahal, Greyboy Allstars, and a great sit-in with Yonrico Scott and Friends…

Last Week’s Sauce: December 7th – 13th

DaveO December 16, 2009 3 Comments

Last Week’s Sauce features recordings of shows from the previous week.

tgakidis

[Thanks to tgakidis for this week’s photo]

Artist & Title: Ani DiFranco – Which Side are You On, Freight Train
Date & Venue: 2009-12-11 Orange Peel, Asheville NC
Taper & Show Download: manofz

The Orange Peel was the site of the pre-jam, the concert that takes place before the Annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam down in Asheville, North Carolina. For these tracks, Ani is first joined by just Warren and for the second track both Warren and Jeff Austin from Yonder Mountain String Band. Ani says that she has just recorded the second tune with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for a benefit CD, more info on that here. The crowd is a little bit chatty, but a nice collaboration nonetheless. Ani next plays January 20th at the Harro East Ballroom in Rochester, NY.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/anisauce.mp3]

READ ON after the jump for more tracks from the last weekend’s Warren Haynes Christmas Jam, Furthur and Old School Percy Hill…

Cover Wars: Bohemian Rhapsody Edition

DaveO December 15, 2009 10 Comments

This rock epic was originally released in 1975 on the Queen Album A Night At The Opera. According to allmusic.com, the album was the most expensive rock record ever made at the time. They also have this to say…

The first single from the record, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” became Queen’s signature song, and with its bombastic, mock-operatic structure punctuated by heavy metal riffing, it encapsulates their music. It also is the symbol for their musical excesses — the song took three weeks to record, and there were so many vocal overdubs on the record that it was possible see through the tape at certain points. To support “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen shot one of the first conceptual music videos, and the gamble paid off as the single spent nine weeks at number one in the England, breaking the record for the longest run at number one.

Cover Wars

The Contestants:

California Guitar Trio: Leading off this week is our only instrumental rendition. Bohemian Rhapsody is a very popular cover and there were many other instrumental versions out there, but of the few I listened to – this one is the best. Source: Echoes

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/cgtriobohemian.mp3]

Some video of California Guitar Trio:

READ ON for the scoop on the rest of this week’s contestants…

Last Week’s Sauce: Nov. 30th – Dec. 6th

DaveO December 9, 2009 5 Comments

Last Week’s Sauce features recordings of shows from the previous week.

tgakidis

[Thanks to tgakidis for this week’s photo]

Artist & Title: Derek Trucks Band – Young Funk
Date & Venue: 2009-12-03 Variety Playhouse, Atlanta GA
Taper & Show Download: mrsoul

The Derek Trucks Band put on a special show down in Atlanta, welcoming a slew of guests to the stage, including: Susan Tedeschi, Jeff Sipe, and Col. Bruce Hampton amongst others. This track, which comes off DTB’s 1998 album Out Of The Madness, features Jimmy Herring on additional guitar. The Trucks/Herring combination is one for the ages, I’ve seen these two go at it in Phil Lesh & Friends as well as the Allman Brothers Band. Derek and the band play tomorrow night at Skirball Center For The Performing Arts.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/dtbsauce.mp3]

READ ON after the jump for more stellar tracks from Mountain Goats, Phish, Ryan Montbleau Band and Steve Kimock’s Crazy Engine…

Last Week’s Sauce: November 23rd – 29th

DaveO December 2, 2009 4 Comments

Last Week’s Sauce features recordings of shows from the previous week.

profpeabody

[Thanks to stober for this week’s photo]

Artist & Title: Brooklyn Bowl All Stars – Dear Mr. Fantasy
Date & Venue: 2009-11-28 Brooklyn Bowl, New York NY
Taper & Show Download: Dave Mallick

On November 28th, the Brooklyn Bowl hosted a care package assembly party and people were encouraged to show up with items to donate and/or cash donations for the troops overseas. The evening concluded with a performance from the Brooklyn Bowl All Stars, which featured members of Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers, State Radio, Guster, and fun. The Brooklyn Bowl will be the scene of Phish after-shows the next three nights with a great lineup of Everyone Orchestra tonight and tomorrow, and Motion Potion on Friday.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/brooklynsauce.mp3]

READ ON for tracks from From Good Homes, Guitarness, Phish and WSP…

Hidden Track Review: Umphrey’s McGee S2 – In Which UM Shows Their Hand

DaveO November 25, 2009 7 Comments

Where do these guys get off? It’s not enough that they sold out five of their last eight shows of the tour, but now they start charging $100/head to fucking watch them rehearse? What a bullshit money-grab. But this sentence, that I promised to open with, couldn’t be farther from the truth. What Chicago-based sextet Umphrey’s McGee is accomplishing by throwing these events effectively demonstrates what separates the men from the boys in the world of improvisational music.

Atmosphere of S2

A little background. S² is an hour-long session – this one was closer to 75 minutes – with 50 fans who buy tickets and the members of UM and their crew. There is a giant projection screen visible to both the band and those in the audience and the attendees are encouraged to use their cell phones to text in themed suggestions. The texts arrive on UM sound caresser Kevin Browning’s laptop and he decides what gets put up on the screen for the next section of music. There were four sections of improv – containing between 9-12 themes – with short Q&As between featuring questions from the audience hosted by Lighting Crew Chief Wade Wilby.

More background: we need to look at 2009 as a whole and look at how these events are the perfect culmination of what I equate to the poker term of “showing your hand.” UM has always taken a methodical and precise approach to their music and to a degree their improvisation. The concept of “Jimmy Stewart” was explained in its best detail to date right here on Hidden Track in August of 2008 with help from the band and the band’s street team coordinator Jon McLennand. And in case it was not apparent from the written form, S2 is a variation on “Stew” short for Stewart. They also call these events Stew Art. READ ON for more on S2…

Last Week’s Sauce: November 9th – 15th

DaveO November 19, 2009 1 Comment

Last Week’s Sauce features recordings of shows from the previous week. Thanks to prof_peabody – who had the lead singer of Los Campesinos roll up to his mic stand, lower it, and then sing it into it – for this week’s photo.

profpeabody

Artist & Title: Chris Barron – How Could You Want Him When You Know You Could Have Me
Date & Venue: 2009-11-12 The Mint, Los Angeles CA
Taper & Show Download: David Landsberger

It’s not very often I’ll repeat the same song on Last Week’s Sauce, but as I was doing my normal cruising around my download sites – I saw this solo acoustic show from the Spin Doctors’ Chris Barron. And I saw that he must have given a very lengthy introduction to the Spin Doctors tune I featured in September in this feature. Not only is the story mildly interesting, but the arrangement Barron plays is quite different than the one you are used to hearing. Barron next plays at Davinci’s Pub in Collegville, PA on December 4th with his band The Time Bandits.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/barronsauce.mp3]

READ ON for tracks from Joan Osborne, Lettuce, MMW & UM…

CW: Everybody Wants To Rule The World

DaveO November 18, 2009 8 Comments

Everybody Wants To Rule The World was a chart-topping single off the 1985 Tears For Fears album Songs From The Big Chair.

Cover Wars

According to Roland Orzabal, Everybody Wants To Rule The World was written and recorded in two weeks and was the last cut to make the album. Good thing they got it in there.

The Contestants:

The Bad Plus: The Bad Plus show up a lot on Cover Wars, often leading off (because we use alphabetical order) and easing us in with instrumental renditions. This is the second song to be included in a Cover Wars from their 2007 album Prog (see also Life On Mars Cover Wars) Source: Prog

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/badplusworld.mp3]

READ ON for the scoop on the rest of this week’s contestants…

Last Week’s Sauce: November 2nd – 8th

DaveO November 11, 2009 No Comments

Last Week’s Sauce is a recurring column featuring recordings of shows from the previous week. Thanks to tye for this week’s photo.

tye

Artist & Title: Bela Fleck & The Flecktones – Blu-Bop
Date & Venue: 2009-11-04 Vicar Street, Dubline Ireland
Taper & Show Download: Taper Unknown

There are interesting things going on over at the Bela Fleck camp. With saxophonist Jeff Coffin gigging full-time with Dave Matthews Band, the Flecktones have reverted to their 1992 lineup that features Howard Levy on keyboards and harmonica. This track was off the 1991 Grammy nominee album Flight Of The Cosmic Hippo. The Flecktones play tonight at The Melkweg in Amsterdam and are back in the USA starting November 18th at the Strathmore in Bethesda Maryland.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/flecktonesauce.mp3]

Some video from four nights later in Prague:

READ ON for tracks from Club D’Elf, Guster, The Meat Puppets & WSP…

DaveO

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