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Lost Recordings of Stephen Stills Unearthed

Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash (and sometimes Young) fame just released Just Roll Tape. The music recorded April 26th, 1968 features the original demo versions of some of the most famous Crosby, Stills, and Nash songs including “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” “Helplessly Hoping” and “Wooden Ships.” This is really a treat. The solo acoustic sounds and voice of Stills are loud, raw, and clear. These recordings contrasts nicely with the more famous, polished versions of these songs. NPR recently did a story on this which includes an interview with Stephen Stills. Enjoy.

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Unchained (not so lost) Melody

Unchained Melody is one of the most iconic songs of all time. The writer of this song, Lyricist Hy Zaret, passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 99. In his memory, I found some of the more well known renditions (and there are a lot to choose from):Elvis Presley, Righteous Brothers, U2, The Scene from the movie Ghost, Tom Jones, and Engelbert Humperdinck.

There are two other songs which I had always attributed to others were in fact Zaret originals. These include One Meat Ball (which I had always thought was a Josh White original), as well as one of my favorites-Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) performed by They Might Be Giants (version 1, version 2). It sounds like a TMBG original! (during my search, I found a ridiculous version lip synced by Sting)
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Watch Bonnaroo Concerts for Free!

At http://www.attblueroom.com/music you can watch the following shows for free! Enjoy the weekend!

Friday, June 15th:
Uncle Earl
12:30pm – 1:15pm
Cold War Kids
1:15pm – 2:15pm
Brazilian Girls
2:15pm – 3:30pm
Kings of Leon
3:45pm – 5:00pm
Paolo Nutini
5:00pm – 6:15pm
Gillian Welch
6:15pm – 7:45pm
The Nightwatchmen
7:45pm – 9:00pm
The Roots
10:00pm – 11:30pm

Saturday, June 16th:
Old Crow Medicine Show
12:45pm – 1:45pm
Spearhead
1:45pm – 2:15pm
Regina Spektor
2:15pm – 3:30pm
The Black Keys
3:30pm – 4:15pm
Damien Rice
4:15pm – 5:45pm
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
5:45pm – 7:45pm
The Hold Steady
7:45pm – 8:15pm
Mago: Billy Martin & John Medeski
8:15pm – 9:45pm
String Cheese Incident
10:15pm – 11:30pm

Sunday, June 17th
Robert Glasper Trio
12:30pm – 1:00pm
John Butler Trio
1:00pm – 2:00pm
Flaming Lips
2:00pm – 3:00pm
Bob Weir & Ratdog
3:00pm – 4:30pm
Wolfmother
4:30pm – 5:30pm
Wilco
5:30pm – 7:00pm
The White Stripes
7:15pm – 8:45pm
Widespread Panic
8:45pm – 11:30pm

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Concert to Combat Global Warming

NEW YORK — Organizers today announced sixteen of the headliners who will perform at the U.S. leg of the 7-continent, 24-hour Live Earth concerts on 7/7/07. The concert will be held at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, Live Earth Founder and Executive Producer Kevin Wall said. Tickets for the show go on sale Monday, April 16 at 10 a.m. EDT.

“Capping Live Earth with a blockbuster show like this will ensure we meet our challenge of building a mass audience to combat global warming,” Wall said. “Live Earth will be a monumental event both in terms of entertainment and in turning the tide against global warming.”

The global concert on 7/7/07 will begin in Sydney and continue across all 7 continents, concluding with the U.S. show.

“We hope the energy created by Live Earth will jump start a massive public education effort,” Live Earth Co-Chair Vice President Al Gore said. “Live Earth will help us reach a tipping point that’s needed to move corporations and governments to take decisive action to solve the climate crisis.”

The U.S. show will feature live on stage:
AFI
AKON
ALICIA KEYS
BON JOVI
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
FALL OUT BOY
JOHN MAYER
KANYE WEST
KELLY CLARKSON
KT TUNSTALL
LUDACRIS
MELISSA ETHERIDGE
RIHANNA
ROGER WATERS
SMASHING PUMPKINS
THE POLICE

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. EDT on Monday, April 16 and will be available at livenation.com/liveearth or by calling Ticketmaster at (212) 307-7171. All ticket information is available at LiveEarth.MSN.com. All proceeds will go to The Alliance for Climate Protection and other international NGOs.

Live Earth is a monumental music event that will bring together more than 2 billion people to combat the climate crisis. Live Earth’s 24 hours of music across 7 continents will deliver a call to action and the solutions needed to answer the call. Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign led by The Alliance for Climate Protection to move individuals, corporations and governments to take action.

Earlier today, Wall announced that the following artists will perform at the London leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium:

BEASTIE BOYS
BLACK EYED PEAS
BLOC PARTY
CORINNE BAILEY RAE
DAMIEN RICE
DAVID GRAY
DURAN DURAN
FOO FIGHTERS
GENESIS
JAMES BLUNT
JOHN LEGEND
KEANE
MADONNA
PAOLO NUTINI
RAZORLIGHT
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
SNOW PATROL

Exclusive online media partner MSN is helping Live Earth reach people in every corner of the globe. The concerts will be streamed live on 7/7/07 at LiveEarth.MSN.com. MSN’s 39 localized web portals worldwide attract 465 million monthly users. The concerts will be broadcast on the NBC in the U.S. and on more than 120 networks around the world.

Wall also announced that smart car, Stonyfield Farm and Pepsi have joined Live Earth as corporate partners. In addition to working with Live Earth to create corporate efforts to combat global warming, this growing list of partners will help ensure a mass audience for Live Earth is reached. These efforts will be detailed at a later date.

Wall also announced today that Live Earth will stage concerts at Sydney’s Aussie Stadium; Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach; Johannesburg’s Cradle of Human Kind; Tokyo’s Tokyo Stadium and the Shanghai, TBD.

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Internet Radio Ruling and Wrangling

One of the best ways to find lost melodies is by using streaming radio by websites such as xpn and npr.  Not only are these stations strong supporters of music from years gone by, but they are also stalwarts of modern singer songwriters, avante-garde musicians, and Indie artists.  This type of music is not readily available to the majority of Internet surfers via other means such as traditional airwaves.  I am a strong supporter of podcasts and streaming music especially in these so-called fringe genres.  However, US Congress is in yet another fight against providers of streaming audio, in essence squelching most streaming stations with an increased pay structure.  Please visit This CNN Link for more information.

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The Dead Cow Palace

A Grateful Dead concert, recorded New Years ’76 at The Cow Palace, was recently released by Rhino Records. The sound quality is excellent. Though there are thousands of bootlegs on sites like archive.org, the majority don’t sound half as crisp as this. Like the majority of Grateful Dead concert recordings, this one has it’s hits and misses. But, when you roll with the punches, sometimes you get hit real good. Here are some highlights for me: Mama Tried (disc 1). I just love this old Merle Haggard song. The lyrics: “I turned 21 in prison, doing life without parole. No one could steer me right. Mama Tried. Mama Tried.” are just classic. Scarlet Begonias (disc 2). I have never heard a version of this song played like this. When you listen to it, you will instantly notice that the guitar hook that Jerry Garcia usually plays is absent from the song completely. I have listened to older versions of Scarlet Begonias and newer ones too. But never without this signature repeating hook. For that reason alone, Dead Heads should check this out recording. Additionally, Donna Jean plays a minor role in this concert (which should please almost all Dead fans). Overall, the CD is enjoyable, though I don’t feel it can compare to concert recordings from 1972 or 1977- my favorite years for Dead recordings. However, it is among the best concerts from ’75-’76 era. Overall, I prefer Europe ’72, Reckoning, and Hundred Year Hall to this recording.

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Vieux Farka Toure’s debut

Vieux Farka Toure inherits the Malian blues-guitar torch from his famed Grammy winning father, Ali Farka Toure on his self-title debut album, which was released on February 13th. The music is really fresh, has influences that range from Malian guitar to reggae and include Ali’s final recordings. You can order a copy of the CD.

In case you are wondering whether Vieux is merely trying to profit off his father’s name or really has talent of his own, I would recommend checking out some of his solo performances (performance 1, performance 2, performance 3, performance 4) and his music video. And I am sure you will agree, Vieux is quite a talent. Welcome to the new superstar of Malian guitar.

Update 2/12/07: 10% of the proceeds from this album will be donated to Bee Sago, a UNICEF-affiliated organization, as part of Modiba’s “Fight Malaria” campaign. They hope to reach their goal of providing every pregnant woman and child in Toure’s home region of Niafunke with a treated mosquito net- the most effective preventative measure in the fight against malaria, Africa’s leading cause of infant mortality. Just another reason (though you really don’t need another) to pick up this album.

Update 2/18/07: New NPR Review of Vieux’s work.

Related Tags: Mali, Malian Guitar, Vieux Farka Toure, Ali Farka Toure, debut, Grammy, Reggae

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Vista Song: Just Wasting Time

With today’s lauch of Vista, I find myself thinking about the ALO post I wrote in October. What does ALO have to do with Vista? It’s the song Wasting Time (Isla Vista Song),of course! So, one might wonder, is updating to Vista a waste of time? Frankly, I have no idea. You can let the other technophile bloggers duke it out over that one. For now, I’m going to drink a Margarita and listen to the Isla Vista Song. Cheers!

Related Tags: Animal Liberation Orchestra, Jam Band, ALO, Vista

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Paul Simon Introduces to The World: Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is possibly the finest acapella group in the world. With one foot steeped in tradition and the other in modernity, Ladysmith’s contribution to international music is undeniable. However, it took Paul Simon to introduce this group to the world (on the classic album Graceland). To find out more about this collaboration, check out this video documentary chronicling the meeting of the white Paul Simon and the black Ladysmith Black Mambazo in South Africa during Apartheid. Additionally, be sure to watch their performance of Hello My Baby and Homeless (with Paul Simon) and Township Jive (solo). Even if you already own Graceland, it is definitely worth your while to check out some of Ladysmith’s CDs: The Best of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Best of Ladysmith Black Mambazo Vol. 2, or The Warner Brothers Collection. (best listened to in full stereo). And if you are able to see them live, they continue to tour internationally. Your ears will thank you.

Related Tags: Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Paul Simon, Graceland, South African Music