Soon To Be Turkey & Mistletoe Time!

It's definitely right around the corner, isn't it? I can totally just about feel it in the air, can't you? Christmas is getting close!!! Turn on The Weather Channel and whaddya see? Snow, snow, snow, everywhere there's snow!!! It's that white stuff that falls from the sky, you make snowballs out of it to throw at cars and school buses. Snow forts. Snowmen. Sledding. Let it snow, baby! Okay, well, I guess all that snow's just up there in the hinterlands: North Dakota. They never really show Alaska on The Weather Channel but there's snow there, also. If you're dreaming of a White Easter, that's definitely the place to go.

Easter? Jelly beans!!! Christ. Christmas.

Hmmm... I wonder if Christ would approve of spending gazillions of dollars on pork and banks and car companies and other Congress & President-approved idiocy, all very much to the detriment of future generations. Kids right now, when they're older, won't be able to enjoy Christmas because they're getting the holy hell taxed out of them to pay for all that debt that's currently being run up. What a jip!

Ahhh well, depressed about the economy or flooding or blizzards or that even though the New York Mets will do good to great for the first five months of the season they'll still completely blow first place come September 1st? Just forget about all of that and listen to some good music! Yah? Yah!!! Pass the eggnog... extra nog, thanks. Merry Recessionmas!!!

Only 268 Shopping Days Left!!!

Have Yourself A Jazzy Little Christmas (Verve, 1989)

A Child Is Born - Oscar Peterson
Christmas Medley - The Swingle Sisters
(Carol Of The Bells, Melodies Of The Day, O Sanctissimo)
Jingle Bells - Jimmy Smith
The Secret Of Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald
We Free Kings - Roland Kirk
Christmas Eve - Billy Eckstine
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm - Billie Holiday
Ole Santa - Dinah Washington
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bill Evans
White Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald
O Little Town Of Bethlehem - Sister Rosetta Tharpe
The Christmas Song - Mel Torme
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Jimmy Smith
Silent Night - Dinah Washington
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald


Have Yourself A Jazzy Little Christmas
320 kbps




mp3 download

Billy K as strong as ever!

Kreutzmann Burbridge Murawski February 15, 2009 Crystal Ballroom, Portland, Oregon

Bill Kreutzmann - drums
Oteil Burbridge - bass
Scott Murawski- vocals, guitar

opened for The Greyboy Allstars at the Portland Jazz Festival

Rhymes
Sugaree
Thunder
Chains Of Life
Help On The Way->
Murderland
Bertha

A couple times since last July I've posted up a video of Bill Kreutzmann, Oteil Burbridge and Scott Murawski, sometimes known as the Bill Kreutzmann Trio or KBM. I'm not sure how I first heard about these guys. Well, what I mean is, how I heard about them getting together to play shows. Actually I didn't know who two of three were but I'm pretty sure I've known quite well and for quite awhile who Billy K is. (For those who don't know: Burbridge is the bassist of the Allman Brothers Band and Murawski has been in a band called Max Creek since about '77.)

When I heard about them early last year, they had apparently completely blown the roof off the bar they first played in, in Massachusetts I think. My memory might be off on this.

Poking around Youtube I found the vids that I posted: Bertha and Eyes. Pretty cool, I thought, and maybe I'd eventually get a show of theirs. Eventually is now here and I have two shows at the moment. This shorter set I've decided to post up, as a taste of KBM.

Three of the songs here are, of course, known to me but the rest I am clueless about. I only know the names of the them because the setlist was supplied with the tunes. They're not bad. I found out Rhymes is an Al Green song... oh, and just now while working on this post I discovered Murderland is a new Robert Hunter original. Ahhh ha, cool! But as a song here by this band, it's not Robert's best work. But as a poem, it's not bad. From the Grateful Dead Lyric & Song Finder, here are the lyrics:

Murderland
Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Scott Murawski

As I was walking in Murderland
On the razzle dazzle in Murderland
Over and over, and the rest be damned
Happy as a rooster in Murderland

Can never get enough of Murderland
Sweet sugar soft girls walking hand in hand
On my motor scooters, gonna beat the band
I'll be on the colonnades in Murderland

Hey down, hoe down, derry derry down
Gentlemen of [?], cock-a-doodle down
Fool [a planet] soda cracker, alligator man
Water, water everywhere and not a drop of sand

Dancing on the water, on a [digital dam]
The well it comes on over into no man's land
No man, no woman, no payment on demand
In the lethal tender of Murderland

And it's who-ooh in Murderland
And it's give all the killers a great big hand
It's fun when they gun you down, great when they weigh you down
Ooh-ooh, Murderland

As I was walking in Murderland
All the razzle dazzle in Murderland
Over and over, and the rest be damned
Happy as a rooster in Murderland

Lyrics aside, it's a nice fun romp. The whole show is filled with great jamming and Grandpa Billy plays so well. Murawski's guitar is outstanding and Burbridge plays that bass of his with quite a bit of funk. At times he's absolutely barreling through songs. The Grateful Dead songs here do kinda sorta sound like it's just some cover band, but not exactly because they're not exactly imitating the GD, they're putting their own spin on it in some ways. When the music's playin' and these guys are putting their heart into it, just Fahgettaboutit, stop makin' comparisons and Listen To The Music Play! They're not bad! I'm definitely gonna make it a point to occasionally play a (and post) a different Kreutzmann-Burbridge-Oteil show. Since this was just an opening act show, their sets are usually a lot longer with a lot more music packed in. Definitely lookin' forward to it!

Thanks, Billy, for not hanging it up! Glad to have you around!

P.S. this recording SMOKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.P.S. Check out a KBM review for 5/28/08 Providence

and GREAT Sue Weiand pics for 2/13/09 San Francisco

Kreutzmann Burbridge Oteil, as of March 30, 2009, is not @ the Live Music Archive

Download The Show Here Audio Quality: Lineage: Front Of Board Audience (by Ian Stoy) -» FLAC Part One ▪ Kreutzmann Trio ▪ 2/15/09 2/15/09 ▪ Kreutzmann Trio ▪ Part Two

2-15-09 aka 02-15-09 aka 2/15/09 aka 02/15/09 aka 09-02-15 Portland

And now something a little bit different...

Kreutzmann-Margen Band July 29, 1986 -- Carol's Speakeasy Chicago, Illinois

Bill Kreutzmann - drums ♦ David Margen - bass
Alex Ligertwood- vocals, guitar, percussion
Jerry Cortez - guitar ♦ Nate Ginsberg - keyboards

In The Midnight Hour-» Feelin' Alright, Back In The USSR,
Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen, Dear Mr. Fantasy,
A Girl Like You (?), La Bamba-» Not Fade Away,
Turn On Your Lovelight, Hey Pocky Way-» Drums-» Iko Iko,
Gimme Some Lovin', Casey Jones, The Weight

Anyone want to listen to a cover band? That's essentially what these guys are. Back when Jerry went into his coma, I guess others in the Dead had to figure out what to do next. What if Jerry didn't make it? What if there was no more Grateful Dead?!? Well, that's probably not what they were pondering at the time, they just knew Jerry would get better... but in the meantime, why not get some people together and play some music?! I'm a-guessin' that's what Billy wanted to do... or maybe someone asked Billy if he wanted to play some gigs. He got together with Dave Margen and Alex Ligertwood from Santana and a couple other guys to play a few shows. I wish I knew the whole story but that's what can easily be pieced together. It's not exactly known how many shows were played, maybe someone still alive on planet Earth has a clue, but what I know is there are just three shows with recordings in existence, all from the last week of July. Maybe others will surface someday but for now there's just this and two others. Along for the ride was Jerry Cortez and Nate Ginsberg, a couple of musicians known in the Bay Area. Cortez recorded with Bob Weir at some point in time and today Mr. Nate owns a music school for piano lessons.

Though there were only three known Kreutzmann-Margen Band shows, the band, with a new name, continued on after this to play during Jerry's coma and, in fact, beyond. From time to time -- in December '86, at least one show in '87, and in March of '88 -- when the Dead weren't on tour they got together to play some shows. The band was then called Go Ahead which many Deadheads have heard about. Taking over on keys for Ginsberg in Go Ahead was some dude named Brent Mydland.

Ginsberg may have only been with these guys for a few shows but at times his playing is just as good as Brent, on Lovelight especially. It's kinda weird not hearing Pigpen or Bob sing the song but still, this is some fun stuff. There are some cool moments when Ligertwood and/or Cortez are smokin' on guitar and Billy's playing is perfection. While brief, I really dig his drum solo. I guess Casey Jones is the only true GD song here and it's really a little odd hearing it not being sung by Jerry. Since it's the one tune in the setlist that Billy knows so well, you can really tell how his drum work totally steers this along at first. Ligertwood then works more in tandem with him when he wrangles the crowd into it near the end. Overall, they give it a good whirl. The total highlight of the show, at least for me, was the song before -- Gimme Some Lovin'. Excellent as is the Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen earlier in the show and Dear Mr. Fantasy, too. Margen shines on bass through that entire stretch. At the very end, The Weight's not as sweet as with Jerry and Bob and Phil and Brent or with Bruce... but it's a nice way to end the evening.

The recording's decent. At times it feels really good but then for some reason Hey Pocky Way got rather distant. Maybe it's just the drugs I've ingested over the years messin' with me. All's I know is it ain't terrible.

And once again -- it's (mostly) a cover band, but it's fun. I'm sure the people there had a blast and I've dug listening to it. I'm lookin' forward to eventually posting some more of this stuff.

Kreutzmann-Margen Band, as of March 29, 2009, is not @ the Live Music Archive

Download The Show Here Audio Quality: Lineage: Master Audience Cassette (by Greg Holtz) -» ? -» FLAC Part One ▪ Kreutzmann-Margen ▪ 7/29/86 7/29/86 ▪ Kreutzmann-Margen ▪ Part Two

7-29-86 aka 07-29-86 aka 7/29/86 aka 07/29/86 aka 86-07-29 Carol's Speakeasy

Running In A New York State Of Mind

It was strange this morning waking up to the power being out. Disconcerting is what it was... and that's coming from someone who has lived in the wilderness for lengthy stints with no electricity what-so-ever. This morning when there was no power, I felt powerless (no pun intended.) The computer modem is run electrically and the phone is plugged into that (or vice versa) and so I couldn't even use the phone. No 'puter, no phone, no stove (or microwave) to heat water for coffee. What was I to do?!? Nothing really except have a mild to insanity-level freak-out panic attack. No, not really, I'm not neurotic (except when it comes to the government.) I just went to the grocery store, called Sugarmag on the pay-by-the-minute cell phone she gave me, and waited. A little Billy Joel got me in the mood to go running and when I came back, all's back to normal. Thank goodness. I mean what the hell?!? No electricity?!?!?! How's a human being supposed to live?!?!?!?!??!

Sunday late morning Run: 25 minutes 24 sec

+ 12 seconds

.
Days Since My Last Run: 2 days
.
10:55 am - 68-ish° - holy cow it's sunny

Excellent run. I don't know why. Perhaps the music inspired me today. Perhaps it was the light breeze that kept me cool under the warmth of the sun. I dunno. Added a whopping 12 seconds but that's okay. I'm getting back up to 30 minutes. At this point in time, I don't even remember the longest outing I've ever had. Maybe I'm doing better than ever but this I know: I'm in that ballpark right now. The key -- KEEP IT UP!!!! I am still very disappointed in knowing that March will be a FAILED month for running. Two days left and I need one regular run and then a run of only a few minutes to hit 3 hours. Ugh. Oh well. Whatever.

March :: +10 sec· X

6 runs in MARCH: 2 hours & 28 min *** FEBRUARY *** 3 hours 41 min January 2009 2 hours 54 min December 2 hours 42 min November: 2 hours 31 min October 2008: 2 hours 10 min **SEPTEMBER** 3 Hours 25 min

Sunday's Running Playlist included most of this album...
	Billy Joel Turnstiles 1976
Say Goodbye to Hollywood Summer, Highland Falls All You Wanna Do Is Dance New York State of Mind James Prelude/Angry Young Man I've Loved These Days Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)

I last listened to Billy Joel almost two months ago to the day, to his album Streetlife Serenade. I didn't like it all that much. Kinda bored me, for the most part. This album, Turnstiles, the one that followed Streetlife Serenade, wayyyyyy better! Wow! There are so many good songs on here. Okay, well, there aren't that many to begin with but two or three border on outstanding while New York State Of Mind just might be one of my favorite songs EVER. Back in '90 (I think) when I saw Billy Joel on his Storm Front tour, I remember riding down 4th South in Salt Lake City, from the University to the Delta Center downtown. During the ride (the long ride that it was, all of about 6 minutes) we listened to Say Goodbye To Hollywood and I'll just never forget that. What a GREAT show. I'm not a huge Billy Joel fan but he's got some decent music and a bunch of it is on this album. And the song NY State Of Mind is me, man, kinda. I'm from Jersey, this I know, but I grew up just outside of The City, out in the Jersey 'burbs. From a friend o' mine's back porch in Franklin Lakes, the top of the skyline could be seen -- about half of the Empire State Building and almost all of the World Trade Center. On those clear nights with great visibility -- so beautiful. I did a summer semester at NYU, living on Union Square West, and that doesn't qualify me as a New Yorker but I'm just about close enough to being one that I am always, sort of, in a New York State Of Mind. Easily I can be in an Alaskan State Of Mind, or a Montana State of Mind, or maybe even a desert state of mind, perhaps even if I'm urged enough a Key West/Maragaritaville and/or Caribbean State Of Mind... but always a NJ State of Mind, and yeah, a NY State of Mind, too. Capiche?!

320 kbps download @ New Moodswings

320 mp3 download

somebody's homemade video for
"New York State Of Mind"

It's not all Barbed Wire & Peanut Butter

I tell ya, I try to put shows up regularly but sometimes it just doesn't work out how I'd like it to. This little thing called life often gets in the way. Oh well, what am I gonna do? This show I originally wanted to post like a week ago but wasn't able to. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it so much. Sugarmag and I would love to regularly get stuff up but it's just not always so easy. Check back, though, ya know, 'cause ya just never know when something'll get posted! And hey, if this is Volume 30 and we've only had 87 days in the year so far, well, you do the math but that's about, on average, 1 every 3 days. That ain't bad, is it?

Grateful Dead -- March 21, 1972 The Academy Of Music New York City

1st Set: Bertha, Black-Throated Wind, Sugaree, Chinatown Shuffle,
Greatest Story Ever Told, Loser, Mr. Charlie, Looks Like Rain,
Tennessee Jed, Playing In The Band, You Win Again, Cumberland Blues,
Next Time You See Me, El Paso, Good Lovin', Casey Jones

Set 2: Truckin'-» Drums-» The Other One-» Wharf Rat, Sugar Magnolia,
The Stranger (Two Souls In Communion), Ramble On Rose,
Me & My Uncle, Big Railroad Blues, Not Fade Away-»
Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad-» One More Saturday Night

Not the greatest soundboard but it's not bad. Several songs in, some people will think giving this any less than A+ is a crime. Overall it's not quite but it's darn good.

I'm fairly certain that this show wasn't even around in the analog age. It's new to us here in the 21st Century Digital Age of the Dead. There is some hiss during quieter moments and the mix for the first few minutes of Bertha is a little ugly. There's also some minor distortion present at times as well as a light buzz here and there. Thankfully, a minor miracle occurs in the first minute of Chinatown Shuffle when the sound improves dramatically. The result is a delicious crispyness. The buzz is more noticeable (still faint and not distracting) but it disappears eventually. Problems there be but overall it's really a pretty decent recording.

The Dead were on their way to Europe when they stopped in New York, New York to play a pretty significant stand of shows at the Academy Of Music, a theater on E. 14th Street, not too far from where they'd played so often, the Fillmore East. That legendary establishment closed up the summer before so they needed somewhere new to hang their hat for awhile. And the Academy would be their home before heading overseas.

That tour of Europe in '72 gave Deadheads what would be a premier live Dead album for so many years... then years and years later came Without A Net and From The Vault and Dick's Picks and the tide was turning. Volume 30 in the DP series released to the masses one of the nights from these seven shows in eight nights run, the 28th, the last show before leaving the continent for awhile. In addition to that whole show, the release feature some of the music from the 25th with Bo Diddley. This here, the 21st, is the first night and only the third Dead show of 1972.

Basically this is a flawlessly played show. First Set highlights for me are the third-ever Chinatown Shuffle, the gorgeous Loser, and the ultra-mega-mesmerizing Looks Like Rain. What make this version unbelievably outstanding to me is Jerry on pedal steel. Holy crap.

Playin' in these days wasn't quite the mammoth it became but at around 9 minutes it gives the band its first chance to get a little psychedelic. It's fascinating how that vehicle for finding the spacey jamming places is wedged in there and the next number is the bluesy You Win Again. To almost end the set Good Lovin' is wonderful. They have so much room to let Pig do his thing while musically they do their to back him up. Just awesome.

The fire continues into Set 2 with such a strong Truckin'. I'm really blown away more by Bob's rhythm work than anything else here. Jerry's beautifully Jerry and Phil's pounding away but why does it seem like it's Bob who's holding it all together here? So cool.

It didn't seem like Phil was entirely on during the first set. Maybe it's just the mix. Occasionally he's heard loud and clear, entering a song with power just when you want him to. But overall he wasn't there a lot and the same is true with Keith on piano. Set 2 for Phil is another story. He's all throughout this Truckin'! Phil's also all throughout (even dominating at times) The Other One. I think he woke up for Set 2! The band again has a lot of room to play here. Such a stark contrast from the mostly lickety split numbers of the first set (and what would occur later in the this set.) Before they get there, a gorgeous Wharf Rat is played. It barely gets any better. So nice! But the truest treat of the set for me is the World Premiere of Pigpen's The Stranger (Two Souls In Communion.) Man, what a show! What a great song. Why'd it go away when Pig did? This would've been OUTSTANDING by Jerry or maybe even Phil or perhaps Robert Hunter in his shows. What a tribute that woulda been. What a shame. Instead of being down about its disappearance, I guess it would be good to be thankful for its oh-so-brief appearance in a dozen shows in the first half of '72. Mmm. Pig is at the top of his game vocals-wise but it's also great to hear some of his harmonica in Big Railroad. Lastly (almost) I really dig the move into Saturday Night. Almost such a smooth transition. How cool that woulda been. Oh well. Pretty fun way to end a great show, though!

3/21/72 @ the Internet Archive: the Soundboard for Listening Only

Download The Show Here Source: shnid=92395 ♦ Audio Quality: SBD Lineage: Soundboard -» Master Reel -» DAT -» FLAC 3/21/72 - NYC - Part 1 Part 2 - NYC - 3/21/72 Part 3 - Academy Of Music - New York City

3-21-72 aka 03-21-72 aka 3/21/72 aka 03/21/72 aka 03-21-72 after the demise of The Fillmore East, the Dead hung here once -- Academy of Music later The Palladium

CCR RUN

If you enter "word of the day" (in quotes) into your favorite internet search engine, you'll get not just one Word Of The Day but many from various websites. I thought it might be a fun exercise to pick a Word Of The Day and just start typing about what immediately comes to mind...

yeah, but that'll piss off a LOT of people should they read what I'd write. A few examples from today are "feckless" and "vestige" and "durable." All that immediately comes to mind has to do with the Socialization of America by many of the idiots who are in charge of running this great country. These dooshbags think they're doing what's best for America and for Americans but in reality they're feckless morons who are proving the U.S. Constitution is not durable. They swear an oath to uphold the Constitution but they just don't give a damn, many of them. Because of that, so many citizens need to fight so hard so we're not facing a time in our history where we have to hang on for dear life to America's last vestige of freedom and conservative values. Our founding fathers would be appalled at where we are now. I swear, they'd want to leave here for somewhere the politicians actually act efficiently AND in the best interest of The People rather than themselves. I wonder what planet that is.

Friday early afternoon Run: 25 minutes 12 sec

+ 17 seconds

.
Days Since My Last Run: 3 days
.
12:20 pm - 70° - overcast

Decent run and I'm happy with the amount of time I added on but March is going to be a failure. If I go every other day, I won't even hit 3 hours. How pathetic is that? Crap!
March :: -02 sec· X

5 runs in MARCH: 2 hours & 3 min *** FEBRUARY *** 3 hours 41 min January 2009 2 hours 54 min December 2 hours 42 min November: 2 hours 31 min October 2008: 2 hours 10 min **SEPTEMBER** 3 Hours 25 min

Friday's Running Playlist included most of this album...
	Creedence Clearwater Revival self-titled debut 1968 (debut)
I Put A Spell On You The Working Man Susie Q Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do) Get Down Woman Porterville Gloomy Walking On The Water

I listen to so much music that's just fine for running... and then every once in a while I get something like this into my ears. Maybe someday I'll finally get around to having shelves of The Essentials -- music that I MUST listen to not just once every few years but occasionally. This is one of those that needs to be in my ears more often. Last time I played this I was in Montana and that was like circa 2000. That's way too long between listens for such a great album. One listen to Susie Q and it's clear why this is Deadhead music! What a great jam they get into. Walk On The Water isn't as long as Susie Q, it's actually under 5 minutes but holy crap, what a lot of music they pack into 5 minutes! Sooooo good! Other tunes, as well, totally have a late 60's feel to them. It could almost be Jerry Garcia on lead guitar. Hmmm... speaking of Jerry, these guys totally have a Dead connection with Tom Fogerty playing in the early 70's with Jerry & Merl Saunders. Wow..... hmmm..... and in 1989 Jerry and Bob played an AIDS benefit with John Fogerty and just a year and a few months later, Tom Fogerty (according to Wikipedia) died of AIDS complications stemming from a blood transfusion.

Anyway, this doesn't qualify as one of my favorite albums ever but it's so damn good and I've definitely gotta get more CCR into my ears!

find a download @ Stuck In The Past!

320 mp3 download

"I Put A Spell On You"
Woodstock, 1969