Finally, an excuse to pair Bob Dylan and Basement Jaxx together on a playlist!

1. Bob Dylan, “I Want You”
   “You don’t have it? That is perverse. Don’t tell anybody you don’t own fucking Blonde on Blonde“ (the line is at the 1:17 mark). Oh, I have it alright, JB. Three copies of it to be precise (none of them vinyl, sadly, but I have made it a habit of giving vinyl copies of it to turntable-enabled friends as wedding presents), and “I Want You” has always been one of my favorites. Dylan is more refreshingly direct than usual for him in ‘66, and I love the harp. Interesting theory behind the song on Wikipedia:

   It has been argued that the song is about Anita Pallenberg, at the time the girlfriend of Brian Jones, because of the line “Now your dancing child with his Chinese suit/ He spoke to me, I took his flute./ No, I wasn’t very cute to him”. Brian Jones was known to Dylan and they hung out when Dylan was in London. The relationship was amicable but also tense, ending up in a car chase and car crash (without any casualties) in the middle of the night. Jones used to wear a Chinese shirt at the time. Another line states that “time was on his side”, perhaps referencing a Rolling Stones song from 1964, called ‘Time is On My Side’.

   Interesting idea, no?

2. The Troggs, “I Want You”
   Some primal riffing from the 60’s British invasion. Sounds an awful lot like their biggest hit “Wild Thing,” not that there’s anything wrong with that.
3. Kelly Clarkson, “I Want You”
   Guilty pleasure alert: Look, I know that this slinky number was scientifically created in a Swedish songwriting lab, specifically designed to stimulate the cheese-pop center of my brain, and given to the American Idol winner with the most hispter cred (see Ted Leo’s cover of “Since U Been Gone”) in order to work its way into the maximum number of iPods. What can I say? It worked.
4. Basement Jaxx, “I Want U”
   The duo seems to have learned both spelling and sensual funk from Prince on this track from Rooty, and it serves them well. Jaxx’s futuristic blend of high-BPM house, funk & pop is unique and intoxicating. I’m unsure of the identity of the singer here, but the vocal cut & paste job leading into the choruses is amazing.
5. Massive Attack, “I Want You”
   A collaboration between the Bristol trip-hop progenitors and overrated Anglophile Madonna that only appeared on hits collections from both artists. 3D provides a rolling, perfect-for-4AM beat and peppers it with swaying orchestral beauty, and Madge, more than anything else, makes me miss Liz Fraser’s vocals. Still a good song, but it would have come out better with more help from Massive Attack’s usual suspects.
6. Kings Of Leon, “I Want You”
   I wasn’t a Kings of Leon fan until I first heard “Use Somebody” from their most recent album Only By The Night. Finally, I thought, they’d figured it out, toning down the wooziness of their southern-fried boogie and cranking up their arena-rock ambitions and knack for U2-ish hooks. Their “I Want You” is a slow-burning anthem, and it has just the right amount of cowbell.
7. Elvis Costello, “I Want You”
   Costello’s take on “I Want You” is the dark, tortured flipside of most of the rest of this list. Nicked from Blood & Chocolate, he and the Attractions spin a haunting yarn of obsession and desire.

Download: Bob Dylan, “I Want You” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Troggs, “I Want You” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Kelly Clarkson, “I Want You” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Basement Jaxx, “I Want U” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Massive Attack, “I Want You” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Kings Of Leon, “I Want You” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Elvis Costello, “I Want You” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download all the songs in a handy ZIP file:

Download: “‘I Want You’ to Want Me” (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

It’s not much of a secret that I’m a big Rolling Stones fan. The 3 shelves dedicated to the band in my CD collection house copies of each of their officially released albums, most of the members’ solo albums, a bunch of CD singles that date back to the Flashpoint live album, and a plethora (si, El Guapo, a plethora) of live and studio bootlegs that stretch from their early days through their last tour. I lurve the Stones, and when I heard that EMI Universal would be re-releasing the Stones’ post-ABKCO catalog starting this spring, I began to clear more shelf space. That catalog was beautifully remastered & repackaged by Virgin Records back in the early 90’s, but it’s been about 15 years, so I was ready for some expanded & improved editions of these classics.

The first wave of discs hit shops a couple weeks ago, so I hit my local Newbury Comics ready to grab my newest copy of Sticky Fingers. I left the store a couple minutes later sans disc. Why? Because these new EMI Universal releases add nothing new to the mix. No bonus alternate/early studio takes, no bonus live tracks, no interesting new packaging, no new anything, except for possibly the remastering which would be subtle at best given the great job that Virgin did 15 years ago. These reissues are a naked cash grab, and that’s a crying shame given the wealth of unreleased studio & live recordings in the Stones’ vault. The Stones (or EMI Universal at least) have proven that they just don’t get reissues.

Sadly, the Stones aren’t alone in the reissues dunce club: both Bob Dylan, whose entire voluminous catalog has been given the remastering/reissuing treatment over the last few years, and the Beatles, whose reissues will be out this fall, both don’t really get it. The sonic upgrades to their catalogs are great, but there’s nothing else new to the mix. Both artists have vaults jam-packed with illuminating, fascinating alternate takes and early versions of historic songs. Why not share them with the world? And finally make a buck on it, too, given the widely available bootleg disc markets for both artists? Even Sir Paul would understand that argument.

So who’s getting the remaster/reissue concept right? The Who: their Live At Leeds deluxe edition is a home run, offering an entire unreleased run-through of Tommy from the same performance. The Monkees: their self-titled debut was re-released in 2006 with a bonus disc containing the entire album in mono and a bunch of alternate versions & unreleased songs. Def-freaking-Leppard: Hysteria was bundled with a second disc of unreleased songs, live cuts & remixes, and the upcoming Pyromania set will include an entire unreleased concert from 1983.

The Stones, the Beatles, and others can get it right, they just choose not to, so Onkel Rudi & I have decided to help them out. Our CD libraries have loads of unreleased studio & live gems by our favorite artists, and once a month we’re going to put together CD-length playlists of what a proper reissue of a classic album should sound like. We’re calling it Reissues Done Right, and this week I’ll be debuting our first installment, my version of a Sticky Fingers reissue that’s 2 discs long: one of studio sessions, one live. I’d love it if these artists get the hint & do it right themselves, but until then, we’re more than happy to lend a hand.

Check back for Sticky Fingers later this week!

A wise sage once told me “drugs are the answer.” He then gave up his IT job and fled to Cape Cod to run a B&B.

Dar Williams one mused “There’s so much to see through/Like our parents do more drugs than we do.”

And I’m sure that Ms. Williams indulged a bit in the land of…. “chemical creative enhancement.” It’s been a lure of composers since the days of Mozart (and likely earlier), and continues to be part of songwriting lore. And some of the best have chronicled their drug adventures in song.

1. “I Want A New Drug” - Huey Lewis & The News (from Time Flies: The Best Of Huey Lewis & The News)
   Huey Lewis came into his prime in the 1980s, when cocaine was all the rage amongst the rock star elite. The one problem? All the nasty side-effects. So Lewis asks for a better drug that has zero side effects, one that makes him feel like he does when he’s alone with the object of his affections. I blame good ‘ol endorphins and hormones, man.
2. “My Drug Buddy” - Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield (from Rare On Air, Vol. 1)
   One of The Lemonheads’ lesser-known tracks, this song talks about scoring some kind of illicit substance, then finding a place to use it. Simple and effective, this sparse arrangement (recorded for an NPR show) makes the whole deal seem a bit creepy.
3. “Cold Turkey” - John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band (from Live Peace In Toronto 1969)
   In the latter days of The Beatles, John Lennon was fueled by drugs. In particular, 1968 and 1969 saw him addicted to heroin, like many of his peers. His attempt to shake the smack monkey resulted in this song - appropriately titled “Cold Turkey.” He describes the agony of withdrawal from the addictive substance, and this live performance from his one-off peace activism concert in Toronto includes painful warbling from Yoko Ono, who was also shaking the smack, and manic guitar playing by Eric Clapton, who was still very much addicted to the stuff.
4. “Cocaine” - Bob Dylan (from Live At The Gaslight)
   Sure, Johnny Cash and Eric Clapton (via J.J. Cale) mused about cocaine. But Dylan beat ‘em all to the punch with his folk song about having “cocaine all around my brain.” The song was penned by Woody Guthrie and Cisco Harrison, and its lyrical construct and contents hearken back to Tin Pan Alley more than the rock-and-roll circus (which Dylan had yet to join). But as a song telling the tale of too much cocaine, this one works quite well.
5. “Addicted To Drugs” - Kaiser Chiefs (from Off With Their Heads)
   This song doesn’t really say much about drug use, other than its protagonist saying that the subject of his warnings is “addicted to drugs.” Seems fitting.
6. “Another Irish Drinking Song” - Da Vinci’s Notebook (from Brontosaurus)
   Alcohol is a drug (a depressant), and this ditty plays upon the cliché “Irish pub song” by pointing out what really happens when a person drinks non-stop all night. Tongues firmly in cheek, DVN does a nice, four-part harmony job while warning of drinking in excess.
7. “Who Needs The Peace Corps?” - Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention (from We’re Only In It For The Money)
   Frank Zappa was about as anti-drug as anybody coming out of the 1960s could be. He took pride in his straight-edge ways, and used every available opportunity to poke a bit of fun at the “trippy, hippy” generation. “Forgive me ‘cos I’m stoned” is one of the refrains of this song, which skewers not only the “tune in, turn on, drop out” culture of San Francisco, but also the then-new Peace Corps. It’s classic Zappa, to say the least.
8. “Smoke Two Joints” - Richard Cheese (from Tuxicity)
   The ultimate Vegas lounge lizard parody artist, Mr. Cheese skewers Bob Marley’s ode to smoking reefer. Irie, all you cool cats and kittens!

Just remember: don’t drink/smoke/toot/snort/shoot and drive, okay?

Download: “I Want A New Drug” - Huey Lews & The News (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “My Drug Buddy” - Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Cold Turkey” - John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Cocaine” - Bob Dylan (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Addicted To Drugs” - Kaiser Chiefs (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Another Irish Drinking Song” - Da Vinci’s Notebook (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Who Needs The Peace Corps?” - Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Smoke Two Joints” - Richard Cheese (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download a handy ZIP of all of the songs:

Download: Chemically Enhanced (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

I guess there’s not a lot to say about these, the idea is they tell their own story. But as David Clennon stressed in “From The Earth To The Moon”, it’s all about context. And it is that which I propose to give you a lesson in… right now:

1. Pink Floyd, “When The Tigers Broke Free”
This is from the film version of “Pink Floyd: The Wall”, and does not appear in any version on the album or many and varied live performances of said work. I can only think that this song - a poetic and visceral summing up of the circumstances surrounding Roger Waters’ father’s death in World War II - is just too personal and soul-rending for the Floyd frontman to want to dilute through casual repetition. Understandable, since his father’s death is clearly, along with the mental self-destruction of Roger “Syd” Barrett, a formative experience in Waters’ life and in one way or another the subject matter of almost everything he’s ever written. I find this scathing indictment of the professional detachment of those planning war, and the personal cost exacted upon those waging it, quite moving every time I hear it.

2. Johnny Cash, “Casey Jones”
Another tragic and honorable sacrifice rendered in classic Americana style, this is the story of the very real John Luther “Casey” Jones and one fateful night in 1900 in Mississippi.

3. Christine Lavin, “The Wild Blue”
Long and rambling and a bit forced and awkward at times, this nonetheless manages to be an emotionally enthralling tale of the origins of the Japanese World War II kamikaze, and the personal toll it took on all involved. It’s rare that I feel that I actually learned something new and interesting from a song, but this is a clear example.

4. Jonathan Coulton, “Kenesaw Mountain Landis”
Shifting gears into the absurd and humorous, we get this slightly exaggerated retelling of the 1919 Black Sox scandal, embellished just a bit here and there by Coulton, who enjoys mining that grey area between the works of Robert Allen Zimmerman and Alfred Matthew Yankovic. This is a stellar example of Maxwell Scott’s adage that “when the legend becomes fact, print the legend”. Make sure you stay tuned for the end of the song where it suddenly takes a hilarious left turn into modern pop rock culture.

5. Bob Dylan, “Billy (part 4)”
This is from the aforementioned Zimmerman’s collection of songs written for the 1973 film “Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid”, Sam Peckinpah’s post-modern revisionist history of the last days of Henry McCarty and the man who knew him well enough to kill him.

6. James Brown, “King Heroin”
Believe me, I wish this wasn’t a true story - but unfortunately Brown knew all too well the power and influence of this immigrant from the Far East. There have been far too many songs written about this opioid and the crafty precision with which it seems to seek and destroy our best and brightest, but no others have personalized the battle by casting the adversary as an actual sentient entity. And here’s where I unfortunately know too much about the subject matter, as I watched this evil seductive being insinuate itself into the lives of far too many people close to me. Unlike some of the previous songs on this list, James is not exaggerating or embellishing one bit. He recorded this back in 1974, long before the “27 List” claimed a few more famous victims. Unfortunately it seems that this King’s reign will persist long past that of this Godfather.

Download: Pink Floyd, “When The Tigers Broke Free” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Johnny Cash, “Casey Jones” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Christine Lavin, “The Wild Blue” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Jonathan Coulton, “Kenesaw Mountain Landis” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Bob Dylan, “Billy (part 4)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: James Brown, “King Heroin” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Pardon the tardiness in my posting this set of selections. A small foray into France got in the way, as did this little election we had here in the U.S. and A.

So I’ll dispense of the pleasantries and get on with the songs. This was originally going to be two posts - one of story songs that are the pure fantasy of the songwriter, others telling true stories - but given the lateness of the month, I’ve decided to combine the two. So this playlist runs long - c’est la vie, y’know?

1. “The Boxer” - Simon & Garfunkel (from Live 1969)
   It’s a bit of an obtuse story: an “indirect autobiography” of Paul Simon, written by Paul Simon, recorded and performed by Simon & Garfunkel around the time of their breakup. But it tells a story of an everyman fighter, who is knocked down and picks himself up again and again to face the next battle.
2. “Big Joe & Phantom 309″ - Tom Waits (from Nighthawks At The Diner)
   Early Waits, at his most drunken and long-winded, this song is a cover - and one hell of a cover it is. Waits’ gravely voice and loping pace really give this song about a truck driver a sad gravitas.
3. “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” - Billy Joel (from The Stranger)
   Joel’s tribute to all of the neighborhood Italian food joints in greater NYC (he claims that two different Italian restaurants were the subject of the lyrics), it’s an exploration of the social circles that tend to form around a good neighborhood eatery. You can smell the garlic and see the red wine stains on the linens as Joel takes the song up and down with every swig from the bottles of red and white.
4. “Watching TV” - Roger Waters (from Amused To Death)
   One thing that is chilling about modern warfare is that it often takes place far away from U.S. shores, and plays out like a video game on TV. It’s a very insular view that tends to blunt the human impact of war: it costs lives, tears families apart and causes a lot of pain for all involved, and this is seldom played out in TV (at least in the pre-internet days). Roger Waters, who gloms onto these situations like a magnet, put his poet pen to work to write this song about the Tienanmen Square uprising, which he saw as one bit of TV “war” reporting that actually did convey the emotions - both good and bad - in the now-all-too-quickly-forgotten uprising (NBC, I’m calling you out on this one: where was the well-rounded reporting during the Olympics?).
5. “Hurricane” - Bob Dylan (from Desire)
   Great story, very matter-of-factly set to music by Bob Dylan. The Denzel Washington movie set this story to images, but it seems as if the screenwriter used Dylan’s song as a blueprint.
6. “I’m The Greatest” - Ringo Starr (from Ringo)
   Sure, Ringo released “In Liverpool” in 2008 as his autobiographical statement. Fair enough. But to my ears, John Lennon did a better job of it in 1970, when he wrote this ballsy, swaggering song that ended up reuniting three of the Fab Four: George also got in on the action, and the result is a lot of fun - much more fun than Ringo’s newer tune, and a much more well-crafted song in all aspects.
7. “At Seventeen” - Janis Ian (from Best of Janis Ian - The Autobiography Collection)
   I was recently reminded of the poignancy of this song when George Carlin died and NBC rebroadcast the premiere episode of Saturday Night Live. Janis Ian was one of the two musical guests, and this was her hot single at the time. The song is autobiographical, telling of Ian’s painful teenage years, where it was tough to be meek (and lesbian) in the cruel world of adolescent taunts and putdowns. The song is painful, and though she wrote and recorded it at age 25, it’s still full of pain and emotion.

Download: “The Boxer” - Simon & Garfunkel (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Big Joe And Phantom 309″ - Tom Waits (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” - Billy Joel (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Watching TV” - Roger Waters (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Hurricane” - Bob Dylan (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “I’m The Greatest” - Ringo Starr (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “At Seventeen (Single Version)” - Janis Ian (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

1. Bob Dylan, “Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts”
I’ve mentioned this song a few times but never had the time or space or opportunity to include it before. Thankfully, Uncle Sam enacted emergency powers and lifted the normal time restrictions so that these stories could be delivered in their own good time. And thus we have one of my favorite songs, a long rambling fable filled with colorful characters, double-and-triple-crosses, and (for Dylan) sweet melodic turns. It doesn’t really add up to a clear picture of what the hell is going on, but you’re sure glued your seat during the story. Ambiguity, as Emo Phillips once said, is the Devil’s volleyball - and this tale leaves you to fill in the blanks to your own delight.

2. Clarence Carter, “Patches”
Y’know how half the rap songs out there are of the “I came from nothing, worked my way up from the streets” etc? Well this guy didn’t even have streets. He had dirt. And when there was no crawdad, he ate sand. Yeah you heard me right.

3. Leonard Nimoy, “The Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins”
This just has to be one of the most awkward songs I’ve ever heard. Setting aside the image of a smiling bobbing Nimoy belting this one out with headphones on his head and a snap in his fingers is cringeworthy enough. Add on a chord structure that seems to have been thrown together by some kid who just finished taking Music Theory and wants to show off how many clumsy changes he can force poor Mr. Spock to try and find his way through. Nonetheless, entertaining and bizarre.

4. Rilo Kiley, “A Man / Me / Then Jim”
An economy-sized song, containing three stories in one! The title says it all, three tales about the “slow fade of love” from three different perspectives - two of them male even though Jenny Lewis is singing.

5. Ween, “Buenas Tardes Amigos”
Ween is a band that often sounds like a completely different bunch of people - sometimes from a different country or time period - from song to song even on the same album. In this instance we get Spaghetti Western in song form! It gets the Morricone formula so right, and tops it off with a cliche-and-twist-ridden tale worthy of Leone.

6. Jeffrey Lewis, “Back When I Was 4″
Another song I’ve mentioned a few times but never included on a playlist. I first heard this song one morning at work with 88.9 WERS on, playing miscellaneous “we’re a cool radio station” music. In this case I had to agree with them, as I stood mesmerized listening to Lewis’ entire (embellished) life story. Gotta love the references to comic books and old vinyl.

7. Bud Luckey, “Boundin’”
From the PIXAR short that played before “The Incredibles”. In case you need any visual aids, it’s about a sheep who feels ugly and out of place every year when he’s sheared - until a Jackalope wanders by and teaches him to just be himself. This one’ll get stuck in your head for a while.

8. De La Soul, “Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa”
And finally we have the song representative of the whole “storytelling” aspect of rap / hip-hop. Historically it’s been pretty much the whole point of the genre, from The Sugarhill Gang and Melle Mel through NWA and The Geto Boys, all the way up to today. Along the way we’ve had Newcleus regaling us wth their battle with Superman, Slick Rick’s eerie “Moment I Feared” prediction about ending up in jail, A Tribe Called Quest’s trip to El Segundo and back, Adam Horovitz famously sneering, “Now here’s a little story I got to tell”, etc… Of all, I’ve picked this unforgettable slice of realism from De La’s second album. It holds your attention throughout with a hypnotic arrangement of chopped-in-half “Substitution” beat, Funkadelic loop, Jungle Brothers vocal sample, and most of all the rhyming pattern of the vocalists, whose lines seem to start late each line and then try to catch up but end up spilling over into the next couplet. Then it’s over, and you’re suddenly kicked out of the story and the song. It’s one of my favorite rap songs, from an album overlooked and underappreciated at the time, but now regarded as a classic of its era.

And they all lived happily ever after.
THE END

Download: Bob Dylan, “Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Clarence Carter, “Patches” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Leonard Nimoy, “The Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Rilo Kiley, “A Man / Me / Then Jim” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Ween, “Buenas Tardes Amigos” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Jeffrey Lewis, “Back When I Was 4″ (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Bud Luckey, “Boundin’” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: De La Soul, “Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

One look at the list, and folks who know me must be wondering, “where the Stones at?” Don’t worry, you’ll get lots of that in a couple of weeks. For now, tho, here are the live tracks that jumped in my noggin when we settled on this theme — enjoy:

1. Bob Dylan, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” (from Live at the Gaslight, 1962)
   The Bootleg Series has been a boon for fans of his Bobness, and nearly every release has been loaded with live recordings of historical importance (Dylan plugs in back in 1966, the early home recordings on the No Direction Home soundtrack) or impressive power (his amazing duets with Joan Baez from 1964, the pre-release runthrough of Desire with his Rolling Thunder Revue), but my favorite of his live recordings came from Starbucks. Live at the Gaslight 1962 was released by the coffee chain’s Hear Music label, and it collects a handful of performances recorded at the historic Gaslight cafe in Greenwich Village. It presents a very different Dylan than most people know and recognize: young Bob is sharp, his singing is clear and (for him) tuneful, and the setting (and resulting recording) is intimate. There’s no crowd noise, a feature of the location and time (most folk recordings from that era I’ve heard feature — or, more accurately, don’t feature — a rapt, silent audience), just Bob & his guitar. This version of “Don’t Think Twice…” blows away any other version I’ve heard, and it really makes me wish I could have experienced him back then.
2. The Band, “The Weight” (from The Last Waltz, 1976)
   The godfathers of American roots rock were this bunch of mostly-Canadians, who started life as The Hawks, backing up the legendary Ronnie Hawkins, and eventually became The Band, who were propelled to fame by backing Bob Dylan when he first plugged in in 1966. Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Levon Helm, and Rick Danko became legends in their own right thanks to classic albums like Music From Big Pink and their self-titled sophomore set, and memorable singles like “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Up On Cripple Creek,” “The Shape I’m In,” and this song, which is arguably their calling card. When the group decided to break up in 1976, they decided to go out in style by staging a mammoth live show at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom (the night was filmed by Martin Scorsese), and invited all their famous musical friends to join them. The show featured a veritable who’s who of my Mom’s record collection — Ronnie Hawkins, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, and Bob Dylan — and the group ran through all of their hits and some of their guests’. The resulting live album and concert film had a lengthy tracklisting, but it only presented about 3/5 of the whole show. A boxed set released in 2002 presented the whole show, including this performance of “The Weight” which didn’t make the cut for the original double-album. No guests, just The Band doing their thing, relishing every minute of it — amazing stuff.
3. David Bowie & Nine Inch Nails, “Scary Monsters” (from Live. Inside, October 1995)
   Like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of musical awesomeness, Bowie & Reznor joined forces for an arena tour in 1995, with Bowie supporting his Eno collaboration Outside and Reznor still behind The Downward Spiral. NIN opened each show, and there was crossover each night as Bowie’s band came onstage, with both outfits merging to play some Bowie & NIN songs together. “Scary Monsters” always seemed like one of the more fierce numbers in Bowie’s canon, but the addition of Reznor’s raw vocals and NIN’s industrial sheen, the song practically roars.
4. Sam Cooke, “Chain Gang” (from One Night Stand: Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963)
   I’d never heard a live Cooke recording until about a year ago when I discovered One Night Stand, and it was a revelation. The power of his voice was never in question, but his studio recordings always struck me as immaculately controlled. That’s why hearing him live is so impressive — he’s got amazing stage presence, and the show practically oozes raw energy, enthusiasm, and excitement. This rendition of “Chain Gang” completely transforms the song from pleasant golden oldie into something unexpectedly sweaty and vibrant.
5. Aimee Mann, “The Scientist” (from the Lost In Space deluxe edition)
   Lord knows I’m no fan of the Coldplay, but thank goodness for Aimee Mann, whose gorgeous voice and canny arrangement transform Chris Martin’s somewhat cloying song into something really special in this live setting. A gigantic improvement on the original.
6. Pearl Jam, “Yellow Ledbetter” (from Seattle, Washington - November 6, 2000)
   I think Pearl Jam are one of the best live bands still working today. I’ve only seen them once, but I can confidently they know how to work a crowd, and can blow the doors off a big venue like nobody’s business. I also really appreciate their attitude towards live recordings — they’ve released excellent, official “bootlegs” of nearly every live show they’ve done since 2000 at bargain prices (they retailed around $12 a pop). This rendition of perennial show-closer “Yellow Ledbetter” is a special one: it was recorded in their home town at the last stop of their 2000 US tour, and guitarist Mike McCready deftly weaves in some licks from Hendrix’s classic “Little Wing” near the end. And now that I think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the studio version of “Ledbetter,” but that’s okay — it certainly couldn’t top this.

Download: Bob Dylan, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” (from Live at the Gaslight, 1962 — mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Band, “The Weight” (from The Last Waltz, 1976 — mp3)
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Download: David Bowie & Nine Inch Nails, “Scary Monsters” (from Live. Inside, October 1995 — mp3)
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Download: Sam Cooke, “Chain Gang” (from One Night Stand: Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 — mp3)
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Download: Aimee Mann, “The Scientist” (from the Lost In Space deluxe edition — mp3)
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Download: Pearl Jam, “Yellow Ledbetter” (from Seattle, Washington - November 6, 2000 — mp3)
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Summertime: the time of outdoor frolicking, BBQ, sun lotion and live concerts.

Sure, a lot of live shows take place indoors, even in the summertime, but most outdoor shows - the big kahunas of the concert world - are outdoor gigs. Whether in football stadiums, baseball parks, farms or Central Park, the big outdoor show is the epitome of big-time musical performances.

So are all of my live selections from big-ass outdoor gigs?

Hardly.

But the sentiment is the same: there are some songs that simply thrive in a live setting. And there are some artists that relish the opportunity to perform their songs in front of appreciative (and sometimes non-appreciative) fans, where they can get immediate feedback, feel the sense of community from their fan bases, and allow the songs to grow into something perhaps a bit larger than the carefully-crafted studio production.

For me, live shows are a treat. I’ve seen many of my favorite artists in live performance: McCartney, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who, U2, Brian Wilson, KT Tunstall, Indigo Girls, R.E.M., The Police, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, Richard Shindell, Moxy Früvous, Emmylou Harris, The Rolling Stones, among countless others. And almost every time, the live performance brings new life to old songs - sometimes making some more mundane tunes a lot more potent.

Enjoy!

1. “Comfortably Numb” - Pink Floyd (at Live 8, Hyde Park, London, 2 July 2005)
   I know that many people don’t really equate Floyd with extraordinary live performances. After all, the hallmark of their live gigs was often to recreate, as closely as possible, their studio mixes - albeit with films, lights, lasers, props and other theatrical elements. But most folks don’t realize that they often perfected their works (especially from Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and Animals) on the concert stage. They’d tinker with instrumentation, arrangements, lyrics, timing and other elements on the stage, then take the well-oiled machine into the studio to create some incredible albums. I include this version of “Comfortably Numb” because it’s such a rare achievement: a band reuniting its trademark lineup for the first time in 23 years in a one-off performance, simply nailing it. The performance is tight and fun - at least as fun as a depressing song can get. But it’s simply awesome to hear Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason (along with a handful of veteran Floyd and Waters sidemen and women) knock this one out of the (Hyde) park.
2. “My Generation” - The Who (at the Young Vic Theatre, London, 26 April 1971)
   Unlike Pink Floyd, The Who is known for delivering explosive live performances. Their early gigs were known for their destructive power (broken guitars, exploding drum kits), but lost in the mayhem was the craft these boys left out on the stage. And as they embarked upon more complex albums, they’d still rock out on their early material. So while this performance fell squarely in the era of Who’s Next, the boys rock out on their 1967 hit, adding extra wattage compared to the already-potent studio recording.
3. “The Boxer” - Simon & Garfunkel (at Long Beach Arena, California, 15 November 1969)
   During their heyday, Simon and Garfunkel usually toured as an acoustic duo: just a guitar and two voices, alone on a stage. But in 1969 and 1970, they decided to take their studio band with them on the road, as their new albums at the time (Bookends and Bridge Over Troubled Water) were high-production affairs. And on the 1969 tour, they also introduced many of the songs from Bridge to their fans. So imagine being a fan of S&G, having never heard “The Boxer” before this evening’s concert - it’s a revelatory experience. And to this day, I greatly prefer live versions of this song to the studio mix: more direct, more emotional, and much cooler.
4. “Closer To Fine” - Indigo Girls (live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, November 1994)
   If ever the Indigo Girls penned a song that goes up about ten notches in a live setting, this is it. Their first hit song, almost all IG fans - casual and die-hard - know this song in-and-out. The simple chord pattern and voice-friendly key lay down a foundation upon which lyrics that most folks can draw a lot of common ground dance and play. Amy and Emily fully realize this, and in a live setting this is the sing-along to end all sing-alongs.
5. “Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Down On Broadway)” - Billy Joel (live at Madison Square Garden, June 1980)
   This song deals with less-than-uplifting material: namely, the destruction of New York City in a nuclear attack. But when Billy Joel performs this song in front of a New York crowd, there’s a joy in camaraderie that lifts it to a new level. The song name-checks many NYC landmarks and institutions, and the New York crowd laps up the references with glee. The best part? That Joel and band feed off this energy and drive the performance home with gusto.
6. “Like A Rolling Stone” - Bob Dylan (live at Manchester Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England, 17 May 1966)
   This one was a toss-up for me: do I go with the “scandalous” performance from the Newport Folk Festival (where Pete Seeger demanded that they “shut off that noise!”), or this one, the famous “Judas” performance from Manchester? Believe me, I thought long and hard, and listened to both performances many times to decide. But the latter one had more energy, as Bob and The Hawks seemed to raise their game many levels due to the crowd’s less-than-appreciative reaction to the newly “electrified” Dylan.

Download: “Comfortably Numb” - Pink Floyd (mp3)
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Download: “My Generation” - The Who (mp3)
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Download: “The Boxer” - Simon & Garfunkel (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Closer To Fine” - Indigo Girls (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Down On Broadway)” - Billy Joel (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Like A Rolling Stone” - Bob Dylan (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)