Archive for category Music
RIP Drummer Chuck Ruff
Posted by admin in Music, streaming video on October 17, 2011
Thanks to a tip from Wikipedia (and this RGJ.com obituary), I learned that drummer Chuck Ruff, who played with a variety of musicians throughout his career (including Edgar Winter and Sammy Hagar), recently died at the age of 60. Without realizing it all these years, his talents have entertained me for years, as he played the drums on Winter’s Frankenstein (one of my all-time favorite drum solos). Looking deep in the comments section of the obit, one of the comments directed me to this Old Grey Whistle Test archival 1973 performance on the song–with Ruff on drums.
Interview to Read: T Bone Burnett
O Brother, Where Art Thou
I did not realize until reading this T Bone Burnett interview, but there’s been a re-release of the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack, a two-disc edition in fact. But thanks to this No Depression interview, my ignorance of the release ended. I have to tip my hat to No Depression for the interview contest they held. Readers that submitted questions for Burnett, that he picked, would win a copy of the re-released special edition soundtrack. And the website’s readers brought some quirky and informed questions to the mix.
It’s hard to pick my favorite interview snippets. The fact that he once worked in the studio with Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, and Michael McKean? Maybe. But I think this non-Townes Van Zandt connection really alarmed me (in a good way).
“I will say that he did most of his recording at Sound Emporium where we have done most of our recording in Nashville including O Brother, Where Art Thou? I’ve seen at least an album of unreleased multitracks in the tape locker. I hope those will see the light one of these days. I’d be more than happy to help that happen.”
Chelsea Crowell on New Album, Crystal City
Posted by admin in Music, streaming video on September 28, 2011
Chelsea Crowell's Crystal City
Winter 2012 marks the U.S. release of singer/songwriter Chelsea Crowell’s second album, Crystal City. To mark the upcoming release, Crowell was kind enough to do another interview with me. And her frequent collaborator/producer Loney Hutchins jumped in with his perspective. Crowell is giving folks plenty of places to give a listen (or watch a video) to her new music. My thanks to Crowell and Hutchins for their time on this email interview.
Tim O’Shea: I love the video for I’m Gonna Freeze, where did you find the archival footage to use for the video? Or was that present day video made to look vintage?
Chelsea Crowell: I don’t know, ask my favorite person to work with Colm O’Herlihy. I entrust him with whatever and he never fails. Plus part of it is that it’s a surprise for me too. He is one of about one I would let take over full control of something like that.
Lisa Vanderpump: Before Bravo
Posted by admin in Music, streaming video on September 26, 2011
So I have always loved the Naked Eyes’ song from 1984, (What) In The Name of Love. Meanwhile, in the present day, my wife loves to watch Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Imagine my surprised while watching the video credits for this 1984 song on YouTube.
Lisa Vanderpump
Yep, that’s right, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Lisa Vanderpump worked in 1980s music videos, including this one.
Baron Wolman on The Rolling Stone Years
Posted by admin in Music, photography on August 31, 2011
Article first published as Interview: Photographer BaronWolman on The Rolling Stone Years on Blogcritics.
Baron Wolman: The Rolling Stone Years
Only one person can lay claim to being Rolling Stone magazine’s first chief photographer–and his name is Baron Wolman. From 1967 to 1970, Wolman captured some of the most iconic images of musicians that graced the magazine’s pages. This August marks the release of The Rolling Stone Years, a collection of Wolman’s photographs from those three years, described by publisher Omnibus Press as consisting of “many … images from the late sixties and early seventies [that] have become iconic shots from rock’s most fertile era.” In addition to his amazing photos, Wolman writes a substantial amount about the early days of the influential magazine as well as his experiences photographing musical greats of the late 1960s/early 1970s.
At one point in the book, you express your preference to shoot in natural light. What is the appeal of using that kind of light for your photos?
Natural light is just that. “Natural.” Nothing artificial about it. What you see in the photo is what I saw when I took the picture. For the most part, flash disturbs the subject and ruins the intimacy of the moment…
What was more challenging to do, decide which pictures to run in the book or writing the text to accompany the pictures?
Both were challenging in the best sense of the word, not to mention the locales where the challenge was met: Paris, Santa Fe, Bangkok. I wanted to add some international “spice” to the process.
Some of your subjects died far too young, how hard was it to look at those pictures?
Not easy, of course. Wondering how their lives would have evolved had they had the opportunity, sad for such talent ended before it had a chance to soar, remembering the moments we shared.
Just Discovered: Largehearted Boy
Posted by admin in Literature, Music, pop culture on August 30, 2011
So a few weeks back, I discovered a website that’s been knocking around for quite awhile, Largehearted Boy. To be honest, I discovered the website after it linked to my Kevin Wilson interview from two weeks ago. (Thanks for that, Largehearted!)
But once I discovered the main mission of the website: “Largehearted Boy is all about sharing the love I have for music, literature, and popular culture. A true labor of love, the site now features every day daily downloads of free and legal music as well as shorties (daily music, literature, geeky and popular culture news). ” I realized it was a site I should be visiting more frequently. And if you love pop culture as much as I do, you should visit the site as well.
Reader Recommendation: Gogol Bordello
Posted by admin in late night TV, Music on August 29, 2011
So my pals from Crumsy Pirates recently recommended a band to me. To be exact, lead vocalist Tracy Van Voris emailed to tell me: “I share with you links from my new favorest band: Gogol Bordello.” Here’s some video of the band from a 2007 David Letterman appearance.
To further quote Tracy: “They are a multi-culti gypsy punk band fronted by a madmad from the Ukraine called Eugene, who is, incidentally, a refugee from Chernobyl. Their music sounds like an Eastern European wedding band on steriods – and they are one of the best live bands EVER. Seriously.”
Performance this intense should be appreciated fully, I second Tracy’s suggestion.
Missed It: Stewart Copeland on David Letterman
Posted by admin in Music, streaming video on August 27, 2011
The drummer from one of my longtime favorite bands, Stewart Copeland of The Police, recently took part in Letterman’s Drum Solo Week II. In this clip, he performs Birds of Prey from his 2005 CD, Orchestralli.
Mike Doughty on Yes and Also Yes
Posted by admin in Music, Uncategorized on August 24, 2011
Article first published as Interview: Musician Mike Doughty on Yes and Also Yes on Blogcritics.
Mike Doughty (be sure to click the pic for a closer look at the Clayton Moore portrait behind him)
My appreciation of Mike Doughty‘s music started much later than most fans, as I first became aware of his work with his 2005 album, Haughty Melodic. When I found he had a new album, Yes and Also Yes, set for release on August 30, I immediately set up an email interview to find out what was in store for fans of his work. If you’ve never seen Doughty live, take a spin around YouTube for a bit and you quickly will realize that you should see him live as soon as possible. To best frame the album in proper context, I quote Doughty himself: “I recorded it in a studio in Koreatown, Manhattan, from July ’10 to April ’11. Produced by Pat Dillett. Notable musicians included my trusty factotum Andrew ‘Scrap’ Livingston on bass, and the pianist Thomas Bartlett, aka Doveman, who basically plays with everybody who’s groovy (Justin Bond, Antony and the Johnsons, Glen Hansard, The National, David Byrne, Yoko Ono). I’m releasing it on my own label, Snack Bar, through Megaforce. I split with Dave Matthews’ label ATO so I could run my own shop and have more control, business-wise.”
I had a chance to listen to the album in preparation for this interview, and I was pleased to find there’s not a bad cut among any of the 14 songs. One song that I hope will garner a lot of attention is “Holiday”, a Christmas duet with singer/songwriter great Rosanne Cash. About Cash, Doughty said: “ I did a show with her, and she said, onstage, ‘I feel nervous playing my new songs, because Mike Doughty is here, and he’s such a great songwriter.’ That blew my mind.” Honestly, to borrow a phrase from Doughty, their duet blows my mind. I am the kind of person that hates hearing Christmas music anytime other than December. But this song has such an amazing hook (as most of Doughty’s songs do), I ended up playing it seven times in a row the first time I heard it. The whole album pulled me in just as much and it was a pleasure to interview Doughty. We also get to discuss another recent Doughty musical project, Dubious Luxury, released earlier this month. My thanks to Doughty for his time and thoughts, as well as Rob Moore for facilitating the interview.
You’re an artist who clearly loves to play live. In developing Yes and Also Yes, how much did you play some of these songs before an audience prior to entering the studio? And did any of the cuts change drastically from how it was initially conceived compared to the final version?
I’ve been playing a lot of comedy shows, around Brooklyn and Manhattan, as a musical guest, and I played “Na Na Nothing”, and “Day By Day By” at nearly every one of them, plus, maybe, “27 Jennifers”. If I play something a lot, before or after recording it, the phrasing will change ever so slightly, so there’ll be a cumulative evolution that I barely notice, unless I listen to a five-year-old version, and then it’s kind of startling. So, I don’t really know.
The Muppet Show Theme with OK Go
Posted by admin in Music, streaming video on August 23, 2011
Honestly, there’s a Bob Newhart vibe to the end of this video–and it works. The band OK Go does a cover of the classic Muppet Show theme (part of the Muppets: The Green Album, which was released today).
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