Danny Gatton - Harrisburg, Pa 3/28/91

If you read any of the Guitar and Music focused magazines in the early '90s you most likely came across the name of Danny Gatton.  To the music loving locals of the Washington D.C. area, Danny had been a fixture for nearly 20 years at the ripe young age of 49.  To the rest of us, he was a refreshing newcomer who's style was deeply influenced by such greats as Scotty Moore, Luther Perkins, and Buddy Holly.

Besides a deep love for the traditions of country and blues, Danny Gatton was a player's player with his incredible technique and keep-it-simple approach to his equipment.  Sure, he had a few pedals, a slide, and a few other effects.  But, you listen to his playing and you know you are getting 100% Danny with production kept to a minimum.

While there have been quite a few releases after his death, Danny Gatton had 2 releases on Elektra, 88 Elmira Street, which was nominated for a Grammy, and Cruisin' Deuces.  Danny incesant love of playing live that besides giving his devoted fans, and many others, the chance to see him, it meant that there are quite a few live recordings of him of varying quality.

The Harrisburg, Pa gig was typical gig of this period recorded by the sound man onto DAT.  While there are a few drops/glitches, it is a very solid recording which very much captures his talent along with those of his band.  As is the case with so many great musicians, they tend to surround themselves with others who can surely plan.

Enjoy this first installment of my Guitar Legends series which you can down load from here.

Announcing The Guitar master series... players for the real fans

There are certain players I worship.... Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, SRV, Jack White, Satriani, Zappa, etc.... There are quite a few who really are amazing that 99.99999999999999999999 of you all have never heard of .... but like everyone else, someone took the time to record them and in my trading adventures over the years..... I took the time to get ahold of various recordings.  You don't need 25,000 plus in the audience to see something quite incredible.  As the years go by, they get both more legendary as well as more forgotten.  I believe they call that a paradox!!!!!

So, I am announcing my Guitar Legend series of the forgotten/ignored greats..... There will be no Clapton, Beck, Page, Vai, etc... Instead, for your listening enjoyment.

1. David Lindley
2. Danny Gatton
3. Mick Ronson
4. Lowell George
5. Daniel Ash
6. Junior Marvin
7. Snowy White
8. Bob Mould
9. Brian May
10. Mick Taylor
11. Paul Kossoff

Many of these amazing players have been members of some of the most memorable bands of the last 40 years... Little Feet,  Sugar, Husker Du, The Wailers, Queen, FREE, The Spiders From Mars, Love and Rockets, Bauhaus, The Rolling Stones, etc.  Sometimes the years pass a by and we forget.  Well, I haven't.  Look for a Guitar legend for download in the near future.

Eric

Back to the Future: The 80s volume 1 - The Smiths - Smiths 'Thank Your Lucky Stars: Live USA 1986'

How does one become a Smiths fan?  I am not even sure I can remember how I came to know about them.  Sure, I was an angst ridden kid like so many disaffected youth sleep walking through the suburban experience known as high school.  Still, I was rocker.  I had my pin adorned jacket with all the fashionable rock bands....Maiden, Priest, The Who, Stones, Thin Lizzy etc.  with a little mystery tossed in... Bob Marley, U2, and Big Country.  Whilst my crowd was firmly rooted in the 80s, which is firmly established by the ghastly photos that serve as a reminder, there is no doubt that we were indeed there! 

Almost immediately, freshman year brought me to WKNH... if ever there were a bastion of musical pretention, it is indeed college radio!!!!  The Smiths were one of THOSE bands our membership had firmly established as a MUST....

The Smiths are a wonderful mix of superior songwriting mixed with outstanding musicianship.  You really don't know whether to pay attention to what Morrissey is droning on about or lock into the guiar playing of the amazing Johnny Marr.

You always felt that excesses of 80s were not sustainable.  Everything about that decade felt like a coke bender gone awry.  The Smiths were no different in that respect.  Behind the scenes, the constant demand for 'product' was taking its toll on the relationship of the band's two protagnonists, Marr and Morrissey.    And so, with the release Strangeways Here We Come and the subsenquent tour, the band called it a day.

This recording from The Queen is Dead tour, a compilation of songs from that tour, was recorded during what is considered there artistic and commercial peak is a fabulous high quality soundboard recording.  Sadly, you can already here the strain of near constant recording and touring by the band .

I hope you enjoy this show which you can download from here.

Eric

Back to the Future: The 80s revisited

For whatever reason, I've had numerous reminders of the 80s .  Hanging out with Aiden Irish, cruising through Manchester, NH, and hearing a review of the new Smiths box set certainly helped.  While there are plenty of folks who just assume forget about the 80s, I had a fabulous time and made some musical discoveries that have lasted for the rest of my life.  With that in mind, I will be sharing some of the better recordings from the following artists.

1. The Smiths
2. Marillion
3. Big Country
4. U2
5. R.E.M.
6. 10,000 Maniacs
7. INXS
8. Rockpile with Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe
9. Elvis Costello and the Attractions
10. Bryan Ferry
11. Talking Heads
12. Husker Du

Mixed in with my release schedule, expect to see these soon!!!!!!

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Memphis Blues (1973) and assorted morsels

Lynyrd Skynyrd was famous for its three-guitar attack, as Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Steve Gaines (who replaced Ed King) – the axe wielders during the band’s mid-‘70s heyday, when they recorded their classic live album, One More For From the Road – wailed away with their fingers flying and their long hair blowin’ in the breeze.

Little known fact: for a time in the late ‘70s, Lynyrd Skynyrd had a fourth guitarist. Every time they hit the stage to crank through their country-tinged blues rockers and sped-up boogie woogie tunes, from the anti-gun ode “Saturday Night Special” to classic rock staple “Freebird,” there was an extra man on stage. Hitting all the notes, whooping it up with the boys, sweating under the hot lights, this extra string bender put in the work, but never got any of the glory.

I was that unsung hero.

I jammed with the band every chance I got, usually when my parents weren’t home, and I could freely make a fool of myself with my air guitar in their living room. I was 11 years old when One More For From the Road came out, and spent a lot of time over the next few years playing the hell out of it.

OK, anyway, back to reality, and a bit of history.

The band started out in 1964 as the Noble Five, and after some personnel changes, changed their name to Lynyrd Skynyrd in mock tribute to a gym teacher who was anti-longhair.

The band put out four albums -- Pronounced Leh-nerd skin-nerd, Second Helpings, Nuthin’ Fancy and Gimme Back My Bullets -- by early 1976.

Over Labor Day weekend in '76, both Collins and Rossington were in serious car accidents, which slowed down their tour and the recording of their fourth album, Street Survivors.

In October 1977 the band’s chartered plane crashed en route to Louisiana, killing singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Gaines, and Gaines’ sister, back-up singer Cassie, as well as three others. The remaining members of the band all suffered serious injuries.

The band broke up after the tragedy, although the members played in a variety of other bands before reuniting in 1987 for a tour. Over the ensuing 25 years, the band has undergone countless personnel changes. In some cases, band members died; in other cases, they were kicked out or left. Keyboardist Billy Powell died in 2009, leaving Rossington as the only pre-plane crash member still in the band.

But tragedy and drama aside, the show available at the link below features 11 great tracks from the band’s early days (including "Freebird," natch) when they looked like this…

…and all they had to worry about was playing music, passing by the barber shop, slipping on some bellbottoms and finding the next party.

Here's the show, the first five songs from which were recorded in Memphis in '73, the remaining six of which were recorded in London in '76. Enjoy!

The Clash - Take the 5th!: The Palladium NYC, NY (9/21/79)

The Clash rock the Palladium!!!!!



 Do I really care when it was, exactly, that I first heard 'I Fought the Law?'  Nope.  It was 1982 and the lads were slated to open for my beloved WHO in Toronto, Canada but instead blew them off, to be replaced by Joe Jackson, so they could ponce about on Saturday Night Live.  After the reception Joe Jackson got, it's probably a good thing!

History is really lovely.  The Pistols were getting all the publicity thanks to Malcolm McLaren and Sid.  They couldn't play their instruments but they sure as hell knew how to play a crowd.  Instead of making complete asses out of themselves, The Clash, led by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones with Topper Headon on drums and Paul Simmonon on bass, chose a different path.  These working class lads had had enough of the way things were in England and were determined to have the last word!  As usual, we Americans were WAY behind the curve and didn't see the first Clash record, aptly titled The Clash, for quite a while later... and sadly remixed to make it more palatable for our sensitive ears!

The those jackasses at Epic send along a Hollywood walla to produce Give'em Enough Rope and it seemed like the powers that be were determined to crush them.... Frankly, great songs HORRIBLE production!

With one more chance and forced into signing a deal that the surviving members of the band are STILL trying to unwind, LONDON CALLING arrived!  As a huge fan of Mott the Hoople, it came as a significant surprise that the mad hatter himself, Guy Stevens, was at the production helm.  While the mulahs at the record company were tearing their hair out, The Clash in a matter of weeks cranked out one of THE GREAT records of the past 30 years....Released in the fall of 1979 in the UK and early 1980 in the United States, London Calling went on to be their biggest success and one the most successful records of the past few decades.

With the opening notes of London Calling, an antehm still on heard on radion stations far and wide, Joe was letting us all know we'd all better strap in!  I still get chills when I crank Koka Kola, Wrong'em boyo, and Clampdown!

This show was recorded before London Calling was released and barely a few weeks after its release in the UK.  The band were still playing quite a few numbers from Give'em Enough Rope and their debu record with a fair number of new songs that would only increase as the tour went on.  Originally this was recorded for radio broadcast which was common in those days.  So, without further note, I give you The Clash - Take the 5th!: Live at the Palladium 9/21/79

Pink Floyd Wesfalhalle Dortmund, Germany 1/23/77 Disc 2

Glad to announce that I've put disc 2 in mp3 format up for download here.  The disc contains ALL of Wish You Were Here along with the encore of Money and Us and them.  I hope you enjoy it.  If I get feedback indicating a desire for it in apple lossless, I will gladly put it up.

Eric