2007

The Guardian’s list of the 10 Most Dangerous Musicians caught our eye when it was published a few weeks back. There have been some crazy motherfuckers that played music, but there are also a slew of rockers who retire to the bus after the show to read Harry Potter and sip on Orange Coolattas. If G.G. Allin, Spade Cooley and Jim Gordon are the among the most dangerous, who would qualify as least dangerous?

We asked our friends at Team HLA and on The Bort to come up with a list of 10 rock stars they wouldn’t run away from in a dark alley:

10. Beck:

Read on for nine more rockers who look meek, but could probably still kick my ass…

Rotary Downs was smack dab in the middle of recording their latest album when Hurricane Katrina forced the band to flee for higher ground. The New Orleans based quintet documented

We came across the ultimate compilation of Prince’s unreleased studio tracks from 1982 – 1997 thanks to The Ultimate Bootleg Experience. T.U.B.E. constantly kicks down primo stuff, but this collection

While many in the music world obsess over the schadenfreude that is Strumpet d’Winehouse, we’ll continue to celebrate the sheer awesomeness of the Dap-Kings’ best frontlady. So we couldn’t wait

It feels like forever since we posted a Grousing The Aisles, but it’s only been two weeks. We’re gonna make up for lost time by posting three incredible soundboards by legendary artists and linking to an additional five at the end of the piece As my mom likes to say “Don’t ever say we never gave you anything.” Let’s get down to business…

Sly and the Family Stone 09/01/1969 SBD [FLAC, MP3]

Much has been made about Sly Stone’s reappearance onto the scene. Sly clearly has seen better days, so instead of looking at his present, let’s take a look at a golden oldie from the days when crack was just the line on your ass. Just this week we came across an incredible soundboard of Sly and the Family Stone’s groundbreaking performance at the Texas International Pop Festival in 1969. You can hear the urgency in Sly’s voice as he sings early versions of songs that would soon be classics.

The whole band absolutely kills this material throughout the set. M’lady brings the funk, Sing A Simple Song shows a bit of a harder edge and Stand! gives the crowd a feel for the more political side of Stone’s music. All of Sly’s musicians are having a great night, especially bass player Larry Graham. Other highlights include a bombastic Dance To The Music and the whole filler, especially the guitar-driven Thank You (Fallentime Be Mice Elf Again). If you want to see what Sly and the Family Stone was all about, download this set or check out the Woodstock video, but whatever you do don’t pay $75 to see them play. Read on for tasty boots from Paul Simon, the Dead and more…

If Tea Leaf Green replacing Ben Chambers with Reed Mathis was a steal, then the Black Crowes replacing Paul Stacey with Luther Dickinson will go down as the best deal this side of the Louisiana Purchase. The Crowes announced the move on Tuesday as they spilled the beans on details about their new album. Warpaint will be released via the Crowes’ new imprint Silver Arrow Records on March 4th.

Photo by VanArk

Dickinson makes his Crowes recording debut on Warpaint and will join the band on a world tour supporting the album throughout 2008. Before anyone starts scouring Northern Mississippi for another Allstar, keep in mind that Luther will probably keep his role in NMAS. At least that’s what Mike Greenhaus thinks, and we trust him. This won’t be the first time a Robinson brother will be in a band with Luther Dickinson, as Rich played in the short lived Circle Sound with Luther last year. Read on for more about the Crowes big move…

We never thought that visiting Vineland, New Jersey — the armpit of America’s armpit — would be in our plans next summer, but yesterday’s announcement that C3 Presents will be holding a festival in Vineland puts the city square in our plans.

C3 Presents, the brains behind Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits festival, always seem to know how to put together a varied and exciting lineup that can draw a diverse crowd. The new festie will be held on a 500-acre privately owned farm on August 8th – 10th.

Interestingly, Vineland takes place only one week removed from Lollapalooza, which means they are ultimately competing with themselves. We don’t really care about that; we’re just psyched to check out what’s sure to be an epic festival about two hours from NYC. Read on for more about Vineland…