Dispatches from the Flying M

How awesome are cows?

Pretty awesome...

RIP Les Paul

Brilliant guitarist and legendary guitar builder Les Paul, 1915-2009.  He was not only a pioneer in the field of electric guitars, but one of the people who championed multi-track recording.  When his arm was badly broken and had to be set in a single position, he had it set in such a way that he could still play.

Rock and roll heaven has a new string man...

Bruce

Friday night was the first time I've seen a Bruce Springsteen concert in 29 years. 

When rock and roll was young, I don't think any of us expected that any act would still be around for 29 years, much less that an act that was mature at the time would still be making new and important music for that long.  Bruce and the E Street Band do play some of their old hits in concert--would anyone let them out of the arena if they didn't play Born to Run?--but a Bruce concert, as he nears his 60th year, isn't simply a greatest-hits retrospective.

In this case, Bruce's theme for the night, and apparently for the Working on a Dream tour, is the economic hard times we're facing.  Several of the sounds were from the new album, and they were mixed in with classics and a sprinkling of tunes that directly or indirectly addressed the economy (the Steinbeckian mini-set that included Seeds, Johnny 99, The Ghost of Tom Joad, and Working on the Highway, then opening the encore with Stephen Foster's 1855 song Hard Times Come Again No More).

The show opened (an hour late) with Badlands, and from the first few notes it was apparent that, although this is only the second show of the new tour, the band was tight and comfortable being on stage together.

The second song, Outlaw Pete, is widely derided as a lesser Springsteen effort.  And maybe it is, although personally I don't see anything wrong with even a "serious" musician allowing himself some silly fun.  But whatever one's take of it on the new album is, in concert it takes on a new life of its own.  I'm not sure how many seats there are in the Jobing.Com arena, but almost all of them were full, and during Outlaw Pete the place went silent as Bruce's voice, alone, filled the room.

There were occasional problems with the sound mixing--when the band was rocking all out, the vocals were sometimes lost behind the music--and with the lighting (as at the Dixie Chicks concert, the only other time we've been to that arena, there are spotlights that shine directly into the eyes of people on the upper level, preventing them from seeing anything happening on stage). 

But the band played for three hours, non-stop.  They took sign requests (Downbound Train, Because the Night, and during the encore, Rosalita[!!]).  The main set's closing Born to Run was magnificent, and it followed an equally brilliant The Rising, closing the set on a high and optimistic note despite the depression mini-set.

The band was incredible.  I thought Nils Lofgren's fingers might catch fire a few times--he really is one of the best guitarists in the business, and has been a personal favorite since his Cry Tough album, long before he joined the E Street Band.  Mighty Max Weinberg set the pace, like a good wedding photographer who keeps things moving.  Clarence Clemons...well, you expect brilliance from the big man, and you always get it.  Everyone was great, and had chances to shine individually as well as together.

Here's the set list:

Badlands
Outlaw Pete
My Lucky Day
Night
Out in the Street
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Working on the Highway
Downbound Train
Because the Night
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
Promised Land
The Wrestler
Kingdom of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run

Encore:
Hard Times Come Again No More
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Rosalita
Land of Hopes and Dreams
American Land
Dancing in the Dark

I've seen a lot of rock concerts--not as many as some people, of course, and more than others--since that first one, where the Blues Magoos and The Who opened for Herman's Hermits.  Some of them (including Bruce's The River concert) were very, very, very good.  But I'm pretty sure I haven't seen any better ones.

Another presidential perk

Maybe the POTUS gig is a good one after all--check out the secret White House record collection!

Two-record sets

This probably isn't a big deal in the digital era of MP3s, etc., but I still listen to records on vinyl from time to time (currently playing, "Nighthawks at the Diner," a live album by Tom Waits), and am occasionally inconvenienced by one of the strange holdovers from the old days.  Two-record sets were frequently pressed with sides one and four on one disc, two and three on the other, so when you stacked them on your record changer, you could have one and two lined up, then flip them and listen to three and four.

I've always had a turntable, but I haven't had a record changer since...well, I don't know.  The early 70s, I guess.  So for the sake of convenience, I usually listen to sides one and four, then two and three.  Which bugs me, because I generally figure any artist worth listening to arranged the songs in a particular order for a reason, and I like to listen to them in that order, just like I prefer to read the pages of a book in their suggested order instead of skipping around randomly.

There you have it--one of the weird tiny frustrations that make up a life.

Dixie Chicks

Congratulations to the Dixie Chicks for winning 5 Grammys last night.  They put out a terrific album and were recognized for that achievement.  Now it'd be nice if country stations started playing them again.  After all, most of the nation has come to agree with them about George Bush.  He's trying to claw his way up to a level where he'll be remembered as a mediocre president, rather than a catastrophic one, but there's no indication that he'll make it. 

You go, girls!

Duets that shoulda been...

Gram Parsons and Allison Kraus.  Any votes on what they might have sung?

Border Music

Having lived for almost 25 years in close proximity to the US/Mexico border--very close proximity here at the ranch--border issues have become very important to me.  The simplistic approach--that Americans can "defend" our southern border with a fence or a wall--is absurd, costly, and won't work.  In my book Missing White Girl, I deal with some of the issues facing border-dwellers, albeit in a fictional fashion, as the book is suspenseful entertainment and not a sociological treatise.  But the issues will continue to impact me, and my fiction, for some time to come.

Calexico is a rock band named after a border town, and they deal, in their music, with many of these same issues.  They're embarking soon on a tour, on which they'll be joined by some groups working on border and humanitarian issues.  To promote the tour, they're having a contest.  I'd be happy to promote it anyway, because their music is incredible, and it's good that they're helping to raise awareness of these issues.  But if I can win free tickets, so much the better, right?

So here's the scoop on the tour and the contest.  I hope you can make it to one of these shows.  And even if not, be sure to check out their CDs.

You probably never logged on to Myspace because you were wistful for civics class. Calexico's seven-date December tour, however, broaches some of the most serious social issues facing citizens on either side of the US - Mexico border today. Accompanying them on these dates will be representatives from several organizations including Humane Borders and Music for America raising awareness about humanitarian issues stemming from border and immigration policies.

So, the contest, you ask? What of the contest? Well, we'd like for you to help Calexico spread the news and bring people out to the shows by telling everyone you know about the events. The following is a list of things you can do to help. Every time you complete one of the opportunities from the list, you’ll be entered to win two tickets to the Calexico show nearest you, a copy of World Drifts In (Live at the Barbican) DVD, a vintage Calexico tour poster and a Music for America t-shirt. In other words, the more you do, the more likely you’ll be to win. The contest will close on Wednesday, November 29.

If you don't live in any of the cities covered by the tour, don't worry! You can still enter the contest and participate in spreading the word. See below.

1) Write your local newspaper, radio station and/or television station and tell them about the event. Ask them if they'd be willing to help by publishing an announcement about the event to inform your community. Send a copy of the letter or any published material to us at contest@tgrec.com. In the subject line, please type "CALEXICO TOUR CONTEST." You can also get in touch with us the old-fashioned way at:

Calexico Tour Contest – Quarterstick Records
PO Box 25542
Chicago, IL 60625

2) Repost this bulletin including a personal message to your friends. Then post a comment on Calexico's myspace page (myspace.com/casadecalexico) saying that you’ve done so.

3) Post this message on your personal blog (non-myspace blogs) and send the direct link to contest@tgrec.com. Be sure to include "CALEXICO TOUR CONTEST" in the subject line.

Calexico Tour Dates:
12/02/06 - Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ w/ Annuals
12/03/06 - Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM w/ Annuals
12/04/06 - Orpheum, Flagstaff, AZ w/ Annuals
12/05/06 - The Clubhouse, Tempe, AZ w/ Annuals
12/07/06 - Soho Restaurant, Santa Barbara, CA w/ The Broken West

Read more about Music for America and Humane Borders by clicking on the links below. For more Calexico information, click on their logo.

                        

Walter, Don & Dupree

I think the Steely Dan boys have a point here.  The first time I heard about the movie, I wondered if its makers had licensed rights to the song.  If you're going to rip off an idea, Hollywood, you should at least change the names.

Gram Parsons

One of my Father's Day gifts was the DVD of documentary film Gram Parsons--Fallen Angel, detailing the work, life and legend of one of the most influential figures in the history of country rock.  Gram's journey from Waycross, GA, his wealthy upbringing in Florida, his rise to musical stardom, his unfortunate death--like so many in that arena, from alcohol and drugs--and then, to seal the legend, the theft of his body en route to its funeral and its burning (ineptly, drunkenly) near Cap Rock in Joshua Tree National Monument (now National Park, but not when Gram used to love it, and now when I used to tramp around in it) is as dramatic and tragic as a Tennessee Williams play, as someone points out in the movie.

I would have liked to have seen more concert footage, but the movie is already long and including full song performances along with all the talking heads and what footage there is would have made it a miniseries. Thankfully, there is a segment on the great suits by Nudie the Rodeo Tailor that Gram's band, the Flying Burrito Brothers, wore on the cover to their brilliant debut album Gilded Palace of Sin.

By sheer force of personality, Gram made some of the preeminent rockers of his day take another look at country music, and helped to weld country and rock together into the subgenre that, along with country-folk, helped the US snatch rock and roll dominance back from Britain.  The movie's implication is that without Gram country-rock might never have happened at all, which I don't agree with.  Elvis and Buddy Holly, after all, combined elements of country music and R&B and gospel to make their individual contributions to rock and roll, and I'm sure country-rock would have found some other champion.  But it would have sounded different without Gram, and it might have taken longer.  As it is, Gram's influence led to great Byrds release Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and from there to the sounds of such classic acts as the Buffalo Springfield, CSN, CSN&Y, the Eagles, etc. 

Today the tradition is carried by Wilco, the Jayhawks, Venice, the Dixie Chicks, Steve Earle, and many others.  Gram's contribution is indelible, and the world is a better place for his short 26 years here.  Would that he had lived many more.