Remembering Freddie Mercury

A few weeks ago at his gig in Cambridge, MA, Frank Turner lead everyone in a singalong to Queen's "Somebody to Love." (More on that later) Since then I have been on a huge Queen kick.

Today is American Thanksgiving, but it is also the 20th anniversary of the death of Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury. Mercury was the greatest rock singer of all time, with a vocal range of four octaves, which is pretty amazing considering he had to formal vocal training. You can read the rest of his biography on line in various places, but for today I'll summarize by saying that I am thankful that Freddie Mercury was part of my musical life.



I remember when this video came out in 1981. It totally freaked me out. It's still pretty relevant 30 years later.

Gigs you should see in Boston Oct 27-28

It seems like I'm always out of town when there are bands/artists touring through Boston who I really want to see. While I am away visiting family in Detroit Rock City, here are some gigs to check out.

Thursday, October 27
Gillian Welch at the Wilbur Theater

Update (from http://www.gillianwelch.com): Due to Laryngitis, Gillian Welch is unable to perform tonight (October 27, 2011). The show has been postponed to Tuesday, December 13th at 8 PM. All original tickets will be honored night of show. If for some reason you cannot attend, refunds are available at point of purchase.

I did a search for tickets a few days ago and it seemed that the original show was sold out. The postponement may be a good thing for those of us who didn't get tickets the first time around.

Gillian Welch - The Way it Goes.mp3
Buy: The Harrow & The Harvest (2011)

Friday, October 28
Biltzen Trapper with Dawes at the Royale

Oh man I really want to go to this show. I saw Blitzen Trapper a few years ago in Toronto and they were great! If anyone wants to do a guest post on this gig please e-mail me at rockstaraimz at gmail dot com.

Blitzen Trapper - Might Find It Cheap.mp3
Buy: American Goldwing (2011)

Dawes - Coming Back to a Man.mp3
Buy: Nothing Is Wrong (2011)

Friday, October 28
The Civil Wars with Milo Greene at the Berklee Performance Center

This show appears to be sold out, but there are a shitload of tickets for sale on Craigs List and Stub Hub.

The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow.mp3
Buy: Barton Hollow (2011)

I don'n know very much about Milo Greene, but Jess from New Music Collaborative, a Boston-based music blog which is a lot better than mine, tweeted a link to their video for the song "1957" and it sounds pretty damn cool.

Embedding is disabled, so watch the video here.

Our Lady Peace and the Occupy movement

A day before the Canadian music blog NXEW tweeted "The U.S. sites are full of live performances from well known acts, why aren't Canada's musicians turning up at #OccupyCanada?" this below message came through my inbox via Bob Lefsetz and his music musings newsletter. Our Lady Peace is one of my favorite Canadian rock bands, even from before I lived in Toronto. While they may not be performing in the Occupy movement, they are definitely getting involved. Check out their latest song/video entitled "Fight The Good Fight" and see lead singer Raine Maida's letter to Bob Lefsetz below.

From: raine maida
Subject: Our Lady Peace/OCCUPY movement

Hi Bob,

I'm the singer in the band Our Lady Peace. We were signed to Columbia for 10 years,1997-2007 had a cpl platinum records blah blah blah.

I've been reading some interesting stories regarding The OCCUPY movement lately. Some asking, "Where is this movement's Dylan or Joan Baez or Lennon?" Others telling bands/artists to fuck off and stay away from the movement. In a day and age when branding is such an ingrained part of our culture i find this a very compelling issue.

I've been involved in different social causes ever since the day i was handed an Amnesty Int. sticker at a Peter Gabriel concert back in the late 80's. Adbusters has always been my preferred reading material. (great counter culture mag from Vancouver & initiators of this movement). i've traveled to and filmed Docs in Iraq and Darfur and helped rebuild schools in D.R of Congo with an organization i trust called Warchild.

On Oct 15th the 4 members of OLP occupied in Detroit ,LA, Toronto and NY. We marched, spoke to protesters and shot footage over the course of last weekend and have now edited a video with that footage to a song we recently recorded called "Fight The Good Fight."

Interestingly enough we've received numerous hate emails, dislikes on facebook etc for supporting the movement. I fully understand the pitfalls for an artist involving themselves with certain issues. This one i'm baffled by though...isn't everybody concerned with the future? Are we not all worried about our jobs, education, healthcare, the fact that there is no transparency in Govt or big business these days? This movement has suffered from disinformation and shameful reporting by the mainstream media.

Much like the artists with the courage to voice their opinions in days past, this song/video is our way of supporting the movement and getting the message out. Nothing Machiavellian about this. We're speaking from our hearts. Hell, I brought my young kids to the Los Angeles rally. This song is for them!

October Feel Bad For You: Instrumentals

Your monthly comp from your favorite musical delinquents, only this time, with a theme! Most people submitted instrumentals, but some people can't follow directions (I'll leave you to figure that one out). It's a pretty interesting comp this month - everything from country to hip-hop to metal to stoner rock. And I forgot the link to the stream, so if you want to stream the entire comp, go here. Otherwise, download here.

1. Chelsea Crowell - For Stormy.mp3
Buy (mp3): Crystal City (2011)
Submitted By: Mando_lines
Comments: "For Stormy" is an instrumental track off of Chelsea Crowell’s record, Crystal City. The song originally had lyrics, but Ms. Crowell made the decision to jettison the lyrics and had her producer, Loney Hutchins, play lap steel in place of her vocal track. A Tennessee thunder storm (and tornado siren) are in the background, if you listen closely. Conveniently, the siren was in the same key as the song.

2. Lil’ Cap’n Travis - Twilight On Sometimes Island (SoulQuest 17)
Twilight On Sometimes Island (2007)
Submitted By: Erschen
Comment: Love me some Pedal Steel

3. Los Straitjackets - Fortune Cookie
The Further Adventures of Los Straitjackets (2009)
Submitted By: popa2unes
Comments: Everyone’s favorite Mexican wrestling mask-wearing, Chuck Taylor-clad, surf and garage instrumental rock band, we had these guys play at a traditional Hot Rod Show I was involved with a couple summers ago, they know how to have a good time and get everyone dancing.

4. The Royal Court of China - Townsend, TN
The Royal Court of China (1989)
Submitted by: toomuchcountry
Comments: The Royal Court of China was a Nashville-based, Elliston Place/Rock Block staple band in the late 1980s who later took a shot at the big time with a relo to LA. Bands such as The Questionnaires (featuring great songwriter Tom Littlefield), Government Cheese, Will & The Bushmen (fronted by Will Kimbrough), and RCC were among the second and larger wave of memorable bands that followed the original Nashville rockers, Jason & The Scorchers. The band got its name from a magazine interview with Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers. In the interview, the two of them mentioned that they had rejected RCC as a name for their name and instead chose The Firm. RCC’s second album, Geared & Primed, was hard-edged and included their only hit – "Half The Truth" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4JNLthoQRU). But their first and self-titled release included a wider range of guitar playing, a mandolin, some slide to give it a distinctly-Nashville touch, a few more harmonies, and this instrumental named for one of the most beautiful, tranquil parts of East Tennessee.

5. Paul Simon & Stéphane Grappelli - Hobo’s Blues
Paul Simon (1972)
Submitted By: Phil Norman
Comments: I’ve been on a Paul Simon binge lately, and I was already thinking of submitting a gypsy jazz track when I remembered this little ditty with the master himself, Stéphane Grappelli.

6. Japancakes – Only Shallow
Loveless (2007)
Submitted by: Corey Flegel
Comments: featuring pedal steel God John Neff of DBT before he was John Neff of DBT…always a badass.

7. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Drivin’ South
Radio One (1989)
Submitted By: BoogieStudio22
Comments: What else is there to say?

8. The Volebeats - Maggot Brain
Bloodshot Records: Making Singles, Drinking Doubles (2002)
Submitted By: Truersound
Comments: in the pantheon of great rock instrumentals, Funkadelic’s "Maggot Brain" is certainly near the top. This is a killer version with some absolutely necessary steel guitar.

9. Willy Vlautin & Paul Brainard - A New Life
Northline (Soundtrack To The Book) (2008)
Submitted By: Simon
Comments: Love Willie Vlautin’s writing for Richmond Fontaine and his books are equally fantastic – the book and soundtrack idea works wonderfully well.

10. Megadeth - Into the Lungs of Hell.mp3
Buy: So Far, So Good...So What! (1988, reissued 2004)
Submitted By: Gorrck
Comment: Having sent instrumentals the last 2 months, this actually was a challenge this month. Pulled up Glenn Miller’s “Goin’ Home” — way too mellow and sad. Fired up some Xavier Cugat and remembered I had a cover of Ray Charles doing “One Mint Julep”. Then I realized I submitted the Cugat in 2008. Dammit. So here’s some Megadeth. Enjoy!

11. Slithering Beast - Ghost Song
Werewolf Ballads (2006)
Submitted By: bootlegend
Comments: One of my favorites from a criminally underexposed band out of Louisville.

12. Norman Blake - Arkansas Traveler
Live at McCabes (1976)
Submitted By: Bowood
Comments: This could be why I play guitar, or it could be why I don’t.

13. Rodrigo y Gabriela - Stairway to Heaven
Rodrigo y Gabriela (2006)
Submitted By: Rockstar Aimz

14. Outkast - Bombs Over Baghdad
Stainonia (2000)
Submitted By: Autopsy IV
Comments: Bob your head. Rag top.

15. The Queers - Squid Omelet.mp3
Buy: Grow Up (1990)
Submitted By: annieTUFF
Comments: Ok, so when I think instrumental I automatically think surf music. And I LOVE surf music. Dick Dale and the Dale Tones, The Ventures, Frogmen, Sentinals, The Rumblers, Beach Boys (although honestly I don’t listen to them as much as the others I’ve mentioned). I could go on and on about surf music. BUT I wouldn’t have ever gotten started listening to surf music if it weren’t thru a weird backdoor way of getting exposed to it, thru punk. So, I decided to put up the song that got me started really listening to surf instead of one of the other surf bands I mentioned. The Queers are a great band that are pretty heavily influenced by surf music, and you can really hear it in their songs, I love them. Although I had heard surf before I didn’t really appreciate it until after getting into punk. Confused now? Me too. By the way, this song ends kind of abruptly, because it’s supposed to lead right into the next track…so this might not really be the greatest pick for a random mixtape….but I’m telling a story with this song, so, suck it.

16. Mark III Trio - Good Grease
Single (Unknown)
Submitted By: mikeorren
Comments: Off a great bootleg instrumental soul compilation that sadly seems to be unavailable on now. The comp disc was called “Bucket o’ Grease”

17. Sun Kil Moon - Si Paloma.mp3
Buy: Ghosts of the Great Highway (2003)
Submitted By: Trailer
Comments: I’m not a big fan of instrumentals, but that’s the theme…so here’s a submission from one of my favorite albums of all time.

18. Ray Charles - Moanin’
Genius + Soul = Jazz (1961)
Submitted By: Adam Sheets

19. Butch Cassidy Sound System - Cissy Strut
Butches Brew (2004)
Submitted By: noteethleroy

20. Earth - Peace in Mississippi (Jimi Hendrix cover)
Pentastar: In the Style of Demons (1996)
Submitted by: TheSecondSingle
Comment: Stoner rock at its best. This may not be most people’s cup o’ tea, but you have to admit: it’s pretty badass.

21. Booker T. & the M.G.s - Green Onions.mp3
Buy: Green Onions (1962, reissued 1991)
Submitted By: TheOtherBrit
Comments: Thanks to TheSecondSingle for the inspiration via Spotify!