Thursday, December 28, 2006

A Day In The Decade

Yes I know, everyone's tired of hearing "you've got to see this cool old video". But seriously, this one is a must-see. Its a 15-minute tribute to THE BEATLES from Rolling Stone Magazine's 10th Anniversary TV special in 1977.

Amazing.

Here's the page at THE DAWN PATROL:

I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND OVER MY EYES

Thanks Dawn!

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Magazine of the Week #52



And so we come to the end of the 2006 edition of "Magazine of the Week" - 52 different magazines featuring one or more members of THE ROLLING STONES on the cover. But don't worry - we're not done with The Stones yet!





Anyway, since we started the year with an issue of CREEM magazine (see here), I thought I'd also end the year with one. This is the December 1978 issue with a KEITH RICHARD (no "S") cover story by ROY CARR, who wrote the classic "The Rolling Stones: An Illustrated Record".


















Roy and Keith talk about the new "Some Girls" LP. Here are some excerpts:

KEITH: The real difference for us was cutting "Some Girls" without having any other musicians present - any other musicians that we did use were only called in later to contribute specific extras. For a change, this album was purely our own affair.

Sure, we over-dubbed a couple of things later, but the actual record and the overall feel depended entirely on the five of us. And that kinda made us work even harder at it. There was more incentive.

ROY: Does that mean that when you've added BILLY PRESTON and brass to the basic line-up, subconsciously you've unloaded some of the pressures?

KEITH: Yeah. Half of it just could be that, and also someone like Billy Preston is such a genius - so used to working in the studio and so quick with it - that if he's in the studio when you're cutting a track - as opposed to overdubbing his part much later - you find that on the playback you're often following Billy's lead before we, as a band, have had sufficient time to work specific things out for ourselves.


And Roy asks about Keith's recent "cure":

ROY: .....What cure did you undergo?

KEITH: The same one as Eric [Clapton].....

ROY: Acupuncture?

KEITH: Electro-acupuncture.....its so simple its not true. But as to whether or not they'll ever let people know about it is another thing!


ROY: How does it work?

KEITH: What can I tell you about it.....? To begin with, I can't tell you how it works because they don't even know for sure. All they know is that it does work. Its a little metal box with leads that clip on to your ears, and in two or three days.....which is the worst period for kickin' junk.....in those 72 hours it leaves your system.

ROY: Is that all?

KEITH: More or less. Actually, you should be incredibly sick, but for some reason you're not. Why? I dunno, 'cause all it is is a very simple electronic nine-volt battery-run operation.

ROY: So what happens after those crucial 72 hours?

KEITH: Well then, its all up to you.

There's a whole lot of other cool stuff in this issue, too - such as a short article about TAMARA RAND, "psychic to the stars". Apparently, BOB DYLAN "never makes a move without her advice", and "she helped him overcome his fear of death". And Dylan is referred to in the article as an "aging folkster".....! Yes, 28 years ago, he was an "aging folkster"!!!


















The "Confessions of a Film Fox" feature gives us the gossip. We learn that LIZA MINELLI "has resumed her romance with MIKHAIL BARYSHNAKOV while juggling DAVID BOWIE on the side", and "RONNIE WOOD is gung ho on marrying sweetie JO HOWARD, especially since Jo Jo is preggers. Does it matter that Ron has yet to obtain a divorce from wife CHRISSIE, or is he thinking of converting to the Mormon way of life?".


















There's a review of one of NEIL YOUNG's "Rust Never Sleeps" shows, articles on AEROSMITH, TED NUGENT, and CHEAP TRICK, and a "Photo Tribute" for the recently deceased KEITH MOON . Record Reviews include THE RAMONES' "Road To Ruin", LINDA RONSTADT's "Living In The USA", and the four KISS solo albums.




Click on images to enlarge.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Berlin in Brooklyn

Like another gift from Santa, BIG O has posted MP3s of the LOU REED show from December 14, 2006. Its one of the complete performances of his 1973 LP "Berlin" that he recently did at St. Anne's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York. Features the return of STEVE HUNTER, who played guitar on the original BOB EZRIN-produced LP.

Here's the page:

BIG O - LOU REED LIVE 12/14/06

And here's hoping Lou releases a DVD from these shows!

Meet The Smithereens!

"The Jersey Beat meets the Mersey Beat"

I've always liked THE SMITHEREENS, especially the stuff they did back in the '80s. As you've probably heard, on January 16th, to mark the 43rd anniversary of the "Meet The Beatles!" LP, they're releasing their tribute CD, "Meet The Smithereens!", featuring their versions of all the songs from that classic BEATLES LP.

This may be old news to some of you, but they now have a website up where you can listen to three of the songs from the forthcoming CD - "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "I Saw Her Standing There", and "All My Loving".

Check it out, it sounds pretty good:

"MEET THE SMITHEREENS!" PREVIEW

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Beatlegs Christmas Podcast

Speaking of Christmas Podcasts, Christmas would not be complete without JOHN WINN's already-classic Beatlegs Podcast #21. Its a wonderful 25-minute compilation of all sorts of Beatle and Beatle-related Christmas recordings. Trust me, even if you have all the Beatles "Christmas Messages", you still need this.

Here are the contents:

Episode #21, December 16th, 2005:
- Another Beatles Christmas Message (outtakes, 10-26-64)
- Jingle Bells/Freedom ("Nice Time", 11-15-01)
- "Saturday Club" (12-17-63)
- Good King Wenceslas (choral mix)
- White Christmas (The Beatmas)
- Christmas Messages for Pirate Radio (12-6-66)
- unused Third Christmas Record session, Marquee Studio (10-19-65)
- Nelson Wilbury greeting (12-88)
- Wonderful Christmastime (Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, 12-17-79)
- All The Best To You From Here (extended mix)
- We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Hammersmith Odeon, 12-64)
- Silent Night (The Spotnicks, Jimmy Nicol on drums)
- Merry Christmas/Magic Christian (speed-corrected)
- Ding Dong, Ding Dong (rough mix)
- "Televiezer Magazine" (12-15-69)
- Happy Xmas (War Is Over) ("Lennon Legend" DVD mix)

Get the podcast here, you can listen or download as an MP3:

BEATLEGS PODCAST #21

And many thanks to John for all the hard work he's been putting into these great podcasts!

Friday, December 22, 2006

Magazine of the Week #51




Here we are with another great LISA ROBINSON-era issue of HIT PARADER, this one cover-dated December 1977.








For the cover story, Lisa has an exclusive MICK JAGGER interview. Here are some excerpts.

They talk about the new live LP, "Love You Live":

Lisa: Why did you do a live album?

Mick: Because we had to.....we promised we would. And here it is! It was part of our contract.

Lisa: You've put so much work into this album, haven't you?

Mick: Ummm, yeah.....enough. A lot.

Lisa: You get so involved with all of it, and it seems to take so long.

Mick: Well, Keith Harwood died, so it took longer. And it got slower, and slower.....and more boring.....

Lisa: You have to listen to so many tapes of all those concerts??

Mick: We had a lot of tapes, but we wanted to put a live album out ages ago and couldn't, because Allen Klein wouldn't let us. Or whoever it was.....but we had a lot of tapes. We listened to a lot of them.....

Lisa: What about all the overdubs that really are done on live albums that people don't know about?

Mick: Well, the overdubs are less than we did on the last one.....The overdubbing that's done under the Geneva Convention of Overdubbing Live Albums of 1967.....


















And they talk a bit about Keith's current problems:

Lisa: What about the band? And what was this stuff that you said about getting another guitarist if Keith's problems weren't worked out?

Mick: I didn't say that. What I said was, the guy asked me if Keith got a life sentence, would you go on the road with anybody else, and I said yes of course I would.

Lisa: You would?

Mick: Well if Keith gets a LIFE SENTENCE.....I mean if he got a life sentence.....

Lisa: Well, as long as you didn't get a life sentence, there would be a Rolling Stones.....?

Mick: Well, its a hypothetical situation.....but if Keith got a LIFE SENTENCE, and I could never see him again except through PRISON BARS, I guess I would have to play with someone else, what else could I do? I could stop playing, but it seems a silly thing to do, I don't want to stop playing. But I don't think Keith will end up behind bars, so its a hypothetical question. But that's what the cat said to me, if he gets a life sentence would you go on.....so that's what I said in REPLY.

Lisa also has an interview with LOU REED, and Lou has this to say about his "Metal Machine Music" LP:

Lou: .....its like ANDY's Campbell's Soup Can - the idea was enough. "Metal Machine Music" is going for $30.00 each now and it really did what it was supposed to do. It drew the line with RCA. In other words, me - the poet of gold, was being flushed down the toilet.


















There's an article on LED ZEPPELIN (also by Robinson), and stuff on BLONDIE, BRYAN FERRY, and CARLY SIMON.

In "Rock&Roll Hotline", we learn that HEATHER MCCARTNEY is "a big punk rock fan", and that while CBS Records has not (as yet) signed WINGS, they will release a SUZY AND THE REDSTRIPES (Linda McCartney, of course) LP on Epic Records. Still waiting for that one!

Click on images to enlarge.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

The Banfords' Christmas Podcast

Last week I posted a new Christmas song from THE BANFORDS. By popular demand, here they are again with some more holiday fun.

This is a podcast that they put together last year, featuring original Christmas songs from their out-of-print 2001 release "The Christmas Album". The podcast is 18 minutes long, and includes 5 full-length songs, plus an "Intro" and a "Finale". Its some pretty cool stuff, with great lyrics - dark, sad, and yet somehow joyous. And with three different lead vocalists there's a nice variety to the songs.

Here's the podcast as an MP3, about 16MB:

THE BANFORDS CHRISTMAS PODCAST

Its a single file, but here's the tracklist:

INTRO
SANTA CLAUS SAYS
AND THERE'S A MIRACLE
MAN OF SNOW
CHRISTMAS (CHRISTMAS TIME)
HEAVENLY PEACE
FINALE

"...now we're diaphanous, crepuscular, mellifluous....."

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

One year ago today

Yes, today is the one-year anniversary of this blog.

In a way, its hard to believe I've been at it for a whole year now. A lot of music blogs have come and gone this year, and when I started, I wasn't even sure I'd last a month, and here I am, more than 400 posts later.

Its been a great year, and I've really enjoyed being here. I've "met" some of the nicest and most interesting people, from around the world, that I could ever hope to meet. And I've been sent some wonderful emails, audio, video, and photos. So I'd like to say that I'm glad to have this opportunity, and I'm glad that folks have been enjoying "Culpa Direct". And I thank you all.

And here's a quick flashback, a re-posting of the first track I posted, one year ago today, MICK JAGGER singing "Too Many Cooks":

TOO MANY COOKS

And to complete the picture, here's a link to that first post:

CULPA'S FIRST POST - 12/19/05

And stay tuned, there's plenty more to come......

Happy birthday Keith and Bobby













So I was a little disappointed yesterday when I realized that I would not have a chance to post anything for KEITH RICHARDS' birthday. But now today I figure, no big deal - he's probably still up celebrating, so I'll just post something now!

Anyway, born December 18, 1943, yesterday was Keith's 63rd birthday.

Here are both sides of Keith's 1978 solo single, never released on an official CD. There's his version of CHUCK BERRY's "Run Rudolph Run", perfect for this time of year, and also his take on JIMMY CLIFF's "The Harder They Come".

RUN RUDOLPH RUN - KEITH RICHARDS

THE HARDER THEY COME - KEITH RICHARDS

And of course, lets not forget that legenday sax-man BOBBY KEYS was also born on December 18, 1943.


















Here he is with Keith, with their 1981 recording of "Over The Rainbow":

OVER THE RAINBOW - KEITH RICHARDS WITH BOBBY KEYS

Happy birthday Keith and Bobby!!!

PS: I just wanted to mention - with all the many blogs and boards these days, I often see some of the same stuff popping up in different places, and I've seen the Keith tracks that I've posted here all posted elsewhere recently. I'm certainly not in the habit of downloading things from other sites and immediately posting them here. I don't remember exactly where I got them from, but these tracks are pretty basic Keith "rarities" and I've had them on my computer for quite a while, and had intended to post them for Keith's birthday for weeks now. I'm sure if you look around you can find them at some other sites, and probably at higher bit-rates. I'm just here doin' what I like to do and postin' what I like to post.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Magazine of the Week #50


For our Magazine of the Week #50, we have the December 1983 issue of MUSICIAN, featuring (separate) interviews with MICK JAGGER and KEITH RICHARDS by VIC GARBARINI.

As usual with Musician Magazine interviews, there's some great stuff here.



Mick talks about the new LP, "Undercover", and Garbarini asks about BRIAN JONES going "over the top". Mick says this:

"He couldn't really hold things together, that's certainly true. (long pause) I wonder what he would have thought of this record? (smiles thoughtfully) It's funny, I thought about that the other day while we were mixing, whether he'd like it or not. Brian was.....enthusuastic, insightful, intelligent, and a good musician with a very nice side to him. But I don't think he was really cut out to be famous. He hated to be misquoted in the papers, for instance, and all those things you have to get used to if you want to be famous, which he did. When he became famous, he realized he didn't like it, but by then it was really too late."


















Asked about the "Their Satanic Majesties Request" LP, Mick responds:

".....A COMEDY RECORD!!! (cackles loudly) It's not heavy at all, its really just lightweight comedy. Somebody put it on the other day, and I thought it was hilarious. Didn't do well, though."

".....What surprised me was the comedic feeling and all the jokes and things we'd never dream of doing now. There were comedic links and French speaking pieces that I took off the new album."

The interview with Keith is a bit longer and more substantial. Garbarini gets him talking about MICK TAYLOR:

".....he never really wrote things, in spite of what he said. It's basically imagination. We all know by now that Mick hasn't done anything since he left The Stones that he couldn't have done in his spare time with the band. He just said he wanted to do his own thing. Mick Taylor is an admirable gentleman and a beautiful guitar player, but I don't really think he knew what he was good at and what he wasn't."

".....he was very reluctant to take any direction.....from the production end of it. JIMMY MILLER used to go through reams of frustration, saying, "Tell the guy not to play there!" Meanwhile Mick is over there and he's just going to do what he's going to do. And so he did it."



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Garbarini also gets Keith to listen to some current popular songs. Here's what Keith had to say about THE POLICE's "Wrapped Around Your Finger":

"Take it off.....elevator music. I know its The Police, but its a blind spot for me. Sounds like CHRISTOPHER CROSS. I like The Police but that track sounds like what they play in my dentist's office."

Elsewhere in the issue is an interview with ROBERT PLANT, and articles on TOM WAITS, GODLEY & CREME, and more.

Record Reviews include DYLAN's "Infidels" ("Get ready. He's back."), LAURIE ANDERSON's "Mister Heartbreak", and LINDA RONSTADT's "What's New".

Click on images to enlarge.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Lennon links

Just to let folks know, as of right now, the links still seem to be good on all nine volumes of "Between The Lines", the collection of JOHN LENNON's 1975-1980 home recordings.

Get 'em if ya need 'em:

Between The Lines, part 1
Between The Lines, part 2
Between The Lines, part 3
Between The Lines, part 4
Between The Lines, part 5
Between The Lines, part 6
Between The Lines, part 7
Between The Lines, part 8
Between The Lines, part 9

This Season

Every year around this time, Philly's "Favorite Urban Folksters" THE BANFORDS produce a DIY-type original Christmas CD-single that they mail out to their "fan club". This year's CD is just in, and I'm priveleged to be authorized to present one of the songs here.

The song is called "This Season", a catchy little seasonal waltz. Listen for "good-nights" to YOKO, JOHN, SEAN, and others.

If you like what you hear, let me know, and I'll be glad to post a few more of their original Christmas tunes.

THIS SEASON - THE BANFORDS

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Live Lou

RBALLY has a great old LOU REED show posted. Its from Alice Tully Hall in New York, January 27, 1973:

RBALLY - LOU REED 1/27/73

To put the show in perspective, the DAVID BOWIE/MICK RONSON-produced "Transformer" LP came out in November 1972. On December 26, he played for a live radio broadcast that would eventually become the "American Poet" CD. The BOB EZRIN-produced "Berlin" LP (which he's performing in New York this week) would come out in July '73. And the live show that would become the classic "Rock 'n Roll Animal" and "Lou Reed Live" LPs was in December 1973. It was quite a period for Lou.

The show is a lot of fun, and I think this is the first time I've heard a live version of "Wagon Wheel". Thanks, rbally!

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Magazine of the Week #49


This week we take a look at another magazine from 1981, the December '81 issue of INTERNATIONAL MUSICIAN AND RECORDING WORLD.

The issue features a cover story on THE ROLLING STONES by CHRIS WELCH.




As The Stones rehearsed in Massachusettes for their 1981 tour, Welch was "priveleged to hear them in their inner sanctum, a converted loft in the back of an old barn...".















Woody tells Welch:

"I got invited to go on tour with BOB DYLAN this year. He came over to my house in L.A. and asked me. But I couldn't because the Stones were starting rehearsals. We did a couple of weeks in New York before we came here. He's a funny guy, Bob. But I can loosen him up and confront him with all the subjects that are normally taboo."


















Keith talks about making Stones albums:

"People think that on an album every track has been newly made and freshly minted. None of our albums have been made like that for years. Not since Exile on Main Street have we done an album where some of the tracks haven't been cut years before. When does life begin? At conception or birth - a release date or when you did it? We sit in our tool shed chuckling to ourselves watching the reviewers discuss our latest record and talking about all the changes, when we know its a load of old scrapings, culled from millions of sessions over half a dozen years. But its fun to watch."

Also in this issue, EDDIE VAN HALEN, DANNY ADLER, GARY U.S. BONDS, and more.

Click images to enlarge.

Friday, December 08, 2006

December 8th

Today is December 8th, which, of course, is the anniversary of JOHN LENNON's death, a sad day indeed. But I have to say that since the incident occurred in the last hour of the day (at least here in Eastern Standard Time), that I've always considered the 8th to be just another day. It was the 9th that was the really sad day.

Anyway, today's The Anniversary, so here are a few things I downloaded last year around this time. Its various recordings of New York radio stations from that night and early morning, including New York radio personalities like LARRY KING and DON IMUS. The first three tracks together are just under 70 minutes, and make a nice CD. The 4th track is about 6 minutes long. I don't have details, the titles here are from the tags that were on the MP3s.

Warning: side effects may include depression.....

01 - 880 WCBS
02 - 660 WNBC
03 - NBC's THE SOURCE
04 - NEW YORK RADIO

Thanks to the original uploaders.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Between The Lines, part 9


















Finishing off this excellent collection, Disc 9 of "Between The Lines" features JOHN LENNON's final home recordings. Interesting, those last few: "Gone From This Place" ("I won't be satisfied till I'm gone from this place..."), "Dear John" ("the race is over, you've won..."), and "You Saved My Soul".

BOOTLEG ZONE has track info and artwork here:

BOOTLEG ZONE - BETWEEN THE LINES VOLUME 9

MP3s are here:

01 THE WORST IS OVER
02 THE WORST IS OVER
03 HELP ME TO HELP MYSELF
04 MY LIFE
05 MY LIFE
06 MY LIFE
07 SERVE YOURSELF
08 CLEANUP TIME
09 CLEANUP TIME
10 STARTING OVER
11 STARTING OVER
12 STARTING OVER
13 GONE FROM THIS PLACE
14 GONE FROM THIS PLACE
15 GONE FROM THIS PLACE
16 DEAR JOHN
17 YOU SAVED MY SOUL

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Between The Lines, part 8


















So what I've been doing is posting the 9-CD set "Between The Lines", the incredible collection of JOHN LENNON's home recordings from 1975 through 1980. The tracks are presented from the best available sources and in as close to chronological order as possible. This was just finished and circulated earlier this year, so its up-to-date and should remain the definitive collection of this material for years.

Disc 8 features more than an hour of recordings from July 1980, while John was in Bermuda. BOOTLEG ZONE has track info and CD artwork here:

BOOTLEG ZONE - BETWEEN THE LINES VOLUME 8

And here are the MP3s:

01 I'M LOSING YOU
02 I'M LOSING YOU
03 I'M LOSING YOU
04 I'M STEPPING OUT
05 I DON'T WANNA FACE IT
06 I'M STEPPING OUT
07 DON'T BE AFRAID
08 THE HAPPY RISHIKESH SONG
09 REAL LOVE
10 REAL LOVE
11 GROW OLD WITH ME
12 REAL LOVE
13 WOMAN
14 WOMAN
15 WOMAN
16 WOMAN
17 NOBODY TOLD ME
18 NOBODY TOLD ME
19 WOMAN
20 WOMAN
21 (FORGIVE ME) MY LITTLE FLOWER PRINCESS

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Between The Lines, part 7


















June 1980 - John sails to Bermuda and his creative juices really start to flow, writing songs and recording demos. He'd stay until the last week in July, and be back in the studio in the first week of August to start making his comeback LP "Double Fantasy".

Disc 7 of "Between The Lines" features more than an hour's worth of John's June Bermuda recordings.

For track details and artwork, go here:

BOOTLEG ZONE - BETWEEN THE LINES VOLUME 7

And here are the MP3s:

01 DEAR YOKO
02 DEAR YOKO
03 BORROWED TIME
04 I'M STEPPING OUT
05 I'M STEPPING OUT
06 I'M STEPPING OUT
07 BEAUTIFUL BOY
08 BEAUTIFUL BOY
09 BEAUTIFUL BOY
10 BORROWED TIME
11 DEAR YOKO
12 I DON'T WANNA FACE IT
13 GIRLS AND BOYS
14 WATCHING THE WHEELS
15 SERVE YOURSELF
16 NOBODY TOLD ME
17 MEMORIES

Saturday, December 02, 2006

The Grey Album


















Since JAY-Z and THE BEATLES both currently have CDs in the Top 5, I thought it would be appropriate to feature "The Grey Album", the already-legendary Beatles/Jay-Z mash-up. Way back in 2004, DANGER MOUSE (now half of GNARLS BARKLEY) put together this great CD using vocal tracks from Jay-Z's "Black Album" along with samples from The Beatles' "White Album". It seems like it was all so long ago.....

For more info on "The Grey Album", go here:

WIKIPEDIA - THE GREY ALBUM

Here are the MP3s:

01 PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
02 WHAT MORE CAN I SAY
03 ENCORE
04 DECEMBER 4TH
05 99 PROBLEMS
06 DIRT OFF YOUR SHOULDER
07 MOMENT OF CLARITY
08 CHANGE CLOTHES
09 ALLURE
10 JUSTIFY MY THUG
11 INTERLUDE
12 MY 1ST SONG

Friday, December 01, 2006