Some entertaining filler while I find time to work on 2 big projects...

Thanks to a couple of sources--This Tumblr site and music friend Erik Alan for sending me down this rabbit hole: Isolated Beatle Tracks on You Tube! (wonder how long they'll last?)

Here are a few highlights:


Paul's isolated vocals on Helter Skelter and Oh Darling.

--Main points:

1) that is some proto-metal screaming right there.

2) The last note of "Oh Darling" sounds exactly like Paul Stanley. Really.

3) George and John singing harmony live, perfectly, pretty much proves that they were angels walking among us. Well, at least that's what they sound like to me. 

Helter Skelter:



Oh Darling-




Ok, kids, listen to this and tell me you still think Ringo was a lousy drummer.
(this is how you play a 6/8 beat, rock solid, with some cool-ass fills. Bear in mind, Keith Moon found 6/8 to be challenging).




and lastly, props to Paul's bass playing here on Lennon's "She's So Heavy"

Punk/New Wave Icons Diggin' the Garcia Long After the Punk Wars Ended

With Elvis Costello, whose praises Jerry was singing back in '78. Mill Valley, CA 1989

With Sting, who the Dead picked to open some shows in 1993. Garcia sat in w/ Sting's band for a few songs. 

And, well. here's Jerry when he was a young man. Backstage at the Ark in Boston, April 1969.  (and by the way, the three nights the Dead played at the tiny Ark club--April 21-23-- are some of the most raucous they ever played. They proved they could dish back the Boston attitude. Don't let that acoustic fool you). 

"The French Girl"--the tale of the tune.

Do you know the song, "The French Girl", written by Ian Tyson of Ian and Sylvia and released on their 1966 album, Play One More?
Well, apparently the song quickly made waves all around the folk+pop scene. It is indeed a beautiful melody and tells a timeless, evocative tale of an exotic and poetic one night stand/one-that-got-away that any romantic type would fall for (and any songwriter would be glad to have dreamed up).


Lyrics | Ian & Sylvia lyrics - French Girl lyrics

Bob Dylan never officially recorded this song or performed it in concert.
But he did rehearse it, 20 years apart, with two different back up bands that he loved and trusted and who probably shared his love for the song. Here's a mini-doc I made about that, merging the two versions,  followed by some supplemental video clips which connect many surprising (and not so) dots.





And now, let's begin the supplemental material with Ian and Sylvia's original (1966):




Here's Gene Clark's lovely version (recorded as a solo single in 1967, unreleased until 1991):




The Daily Flash's equally lovely Version (also 1967):



And now, let's bring it full circle: In 1970, Ian and Sylvia, The Band and The Grateful Dead all took part in the famous Train Across Canada Tour (or whatever it was officially called), documented in the film Festival Express. Both on and off stage, the bands intermingled and generally had a crazy time. The only thing missing was Dylan, who was still more or less hiding out in Woodstock, playing husband and father. (Bonus connections: if you click that Festival Express link, the song you hear is Woody Guthrie's "Goin Down the Road Feeling Bad", which The Grateful Dead played a zillion times, but ALSO, which Dylan and The Band rehearsed in the winter/spring of 1967).

Here's Sylvia Tyson and Jerry Garcia doing a version of the spiritual "Cold Jordan" aboard a train in 1970 (from the film Festival Express). 





..and Garcia playing with Ian and Sylvia on that same tour




...and from the same film, Ian and Sylvia covering Dylan's "Tears of Rage", which he wrote, you guessed it, in 1967 during his semi-retirement. 







And of course, to connect the Band/Dead dots, this famous clip of the oddest version of "Ain't No More Cane" you'll ever hear. You get a contact buzz just from watching Rick Danko.

Feedback.

 

"They loved feedback. First one would feedback, then all of them would be feeding back madly, until the song disappeared beneath torrents of noise. It was like someone tossing a bloody chicken into a school of piranha. Phil would almost be foaming at the mouth, throwing his guitar into his amp. And Jerry would just drop everything and run at his amp, as if he couldn't get back there to start feeding back fast enough....Pigpen hated it."--Mickey Hart

Fictional Album Time Again: The OTHER Best Double Album of 1972

Garcia+Weir, 1972-San Franciscans in the UK.

Jagger+Richards, 1972-Londoners in the States

In a 1991 interview quoted in Blair Jackson's Garcia-An American Life Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter was asked about why so many of the Dead's early '70's songs were spread widely across a triple live album, and Garcia's (excellent) and Weir's (pretty good) debut solo albums: 

His response: "All that material was sort of the kicker follow-up album to AMERICAN BEAUTY ...I 
personally would've liked to hear those songs on an album of their own." 

(I swear I read somewhere that the album would have been called Ramble On Rose. But I can't seem to track down the source)

Well, were I in charge of such things, I'd have compiled the very album you'll see at the bottom of this post. In fact, I think that Rhino, or whoever is putting official Dead stuff out, should do just that. However, I believe that my idea would end up in the same round, metal "suggestion box" with the foot-operated pedal, that my Nesmith in Nashville idea ended up in.

I think, in many ways, were it released at the time, Ramble On Rose would be considered the perfect west coast American counterpart to The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street.  What Exile  was to claustrophobic, cynical, Jack Daniels n' junk, Euro Decadence, Ramble On Rose should have been to wide open, wild west, coke and acid, American Idealism. 

There's a bit of an interesting correlation between The Stones and the Dead in 1972. Both were on creative and chemical highs, and both were touring outside their homelands. But, whereas The Stones tour was a money making machine, with Mick very conscious of who was and wasn't on the guestlist (he wanted to appear equally attractive to the men and women who made up the A-List of both the art and business world--Keith couldn't give a toss, as long as the "tour doctor" was well stocked at all times), The Grateful Dead, by their own admission, were, as a collective, One Big Dumb American Tourist. (or as Garcia stated to  Charles Reich, a Yale law professor, and Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone, The Dead are "One Dumb Guy").  The Rainbow Kid on the cover of Europe '72 reflects how they saw themselves. Ugly, loud, attracting the wrong kind of attention. The cliche of how Europeans see American tourists. The people who elicited groans when fellow passengers were unlucky enough to have to sit near them on a transcontinental trip. 

This image was not exactly Truman Capote and Andy Warhol being seen on the Stones' private jet. 

Would you let your daughter date this kid?

Would you kiss your mother with that mouth?

 The Dead were exclusive in a family way ('72 tour)

The Stones were exclusive in a cliquey way. ('72 tour) 

And yet, if one was open-minded enough to start a conversation with one of this motley, hirsuite crew, depending on who they were next to, they would likely get quite an education. And not about the price of weed. Phil Lesh was a walking classical, jazz and avant garde music textbook. And Garcia, judging from the many interviews with him that I've read, could expound upon just about anything. And not be bullshitting. They all might be high as kites, but...well, they're like that kid you know in college who takes acid before his advanced physics final and aces it. Then invents something for NASA. Or Apple. No wonder people hate them. 

Whether we're talking The Stones or The Dead,  these were just cocky, talented, musicians in their mid to late 20's, expressing, in words and music, as well as attitude, what was written in their genetic codes, and selling it to the masses. They grew up in vastly different environments, but had the same influences. A chubby 15 year old anti-authoritarian named Jerry was practicing Chuck Berry licks in San Francisco at the same time as a big-eared, equally rebellious kid named Keith was doing the same in London. They were also practicing to be painters, but preferred the lack of pretentiousness in rock and roll. Making good on these teenage practice sessions, the two men, despite creating hundreds of classics on their own, never stopped showing off their Chuck Berry licks to crowds. 

"Johnny B. Goode", "Promised Land", "Let It Rock", "Run Rudolph, Run", and "Around and Around" were all covered by the Dead and "Around And Around", "Bye Bye Johnny", "Carol", "Sweet Little Sixteen" ,"Come On", "Down The Road A Piece", "Let It Rock", "Little Queenie", "Memphis, Tennessee" and "You Can't Catch Me" were all covered by The Stones. 

From bedroom to arena--compare/contrast the 20-something Keith and Jerry's Chuck Berry licks. Really, this is where the direct comparisons to these two bands begin and end. So I post these clips not as a "awwwwwesommmme" type thing. Just a compare/contrast thing. 

Close your eyes, pretend you've never heard of either band  and you can't tell which band spent 2 hours in hair and makeup and which one is led by 2 guys who look like they've come to repair your roof.. They just sound like grown up rock and roll kids playing a song by one of their faves.


The Stones--November 1969, "Carol"





The Grateful Dead--July 1971, "Johnny B. Goode"






So now to the subject at hand. 


I've compiled what I feel is an album akin to Workingman's Dead and American Beauty--one that qualifies as just good early 70's singer-songwriter pop rock. No jams, no overly ambitious jazz changes...not too wimpy, not too weird, not too lame. All substance. And, as I stated earlier, a sort of American answer to "Exile". 

As stated earlier, these songs are culled from three official sources: 

1) Bob Weir's debut solo album Ace (which was really a Dead album) (1972)
2) Jerry Garcia's debut solo album Garcia (which had Garcia playing everything but drums) (1972)
3) The Grateful Dead's Europe '72 (which had many great new songs alongside live oldies...but all the vocals were overdubbed in a studio, so these are almost like studio versions).


It would have been a classic double album, with the only gimmick being the two short, arty Garcia instrumentals that would have begun side one of each album. 

This is almost a concept album. Like Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection. There are recurring images of gambling, losing (friends, women, money), escaping from shady circumstances...
And then there's the more transcendent, peaceful, Zen stuff ("The Wheel", "Cassidy", "Bird Song" (which is about Janis Joplin but works as a general statement). At the end, in "He's Gone", after describing a litany of horrible images, the loser figure sings the famous "nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile". (Yet another dark Robert Hunter line that becomes associated with the acid-eating grins of Deadheads mindlessly parroting the lines that look best out of context, on bumper stickers, and surrounded by roses). 
And to begin and end, party man Bob Weir rocks it up, screaming his pony tailed head off. 
But even these songs are filled with resigned lines like "don't worry about tomorrow--lord, you'll know it when it comes"--which of course, was how these guys--and The Stones, and most big names of the time--were living.

 You don't need to have any sort of "Dead Degree" or credentials to like this collection. Really. It's just simply good early '70's rock. The songs are almost an even split of Garcia and Weir, with the edge going to Garcia. Plus, one final tune from Pig Pen (the endearing "Mr. Charlie")


So here's the Spotify Link to the fictional, really-should've-been one of the best-selling, critically-acclaimed albums of 1972, RAMBLE ON, ROSE.


Late For Supper    1:38
Greatest Story Ever Told    3:42
Loser    4:10
Jack Straw    4:49
Ramble On Rose    6:04
Looks Like Rain    6:14
Sugaree    5:55
Cassidy    3:45
Bird Song    4:26
To Lay Me Down    6:18
An Odd Little Place    1:39
The Wheel    4:12
Mexicali Blues    3:27
Brown-eyed Women    4:39
Mr. Charlie    3:39
Tennessee Jed    7:19
Black-Throated Wind    5:42
Deal    3:14
He's Gone    6:57
One More Saturday Night    4:31

Watch Kool-Aid turn into Electric Kool-Aid--Rafelson and Schneider Style

(Oh god, he's delving into film AGAIN?!)

If you have a few minutes (which you obviously do if you're reading this), check out the various thematic, visual similarities in these two clips. Both are from those legends of cutting-edge American cinema, Bob Rafelson and (the recently deceased) Bert Schneider.  (and, though Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson weren't involved in The Monkees TV Series, they were hanging out towards the end of it, both for the fun times and research for Head). And yes, I realize that Schneider and Rafelson's roles in each of these clips aren't completely analogous. But they were both involved in one way or another. 

Clip One is from The Monkees in Paris. (One of the strangest episodes-- There's no dialog except in the opening and closing scene, which have The Monkees arguing with the director about the monotony of all the show's scripts). Anyway, this episode is grainy, shot on location all around Paris, and features chicks in mini skirts, guys in leather fringe jackets, a slightly druggy, arty, disturbing vibe, and a scene shot in a cemetery. There's no straight up sex (like in the Easy Rider clip), but some implied sex. And it's just FRANTIC.
Of course, it's from a TV show marketed for 10 year olds, so like I say, this is straight up Kool Aid. Maybe with a couple extra teaspoons of sugar for added fun (and a horrible come down, man.)

Clip Two is from the legendary Easy Rider, filmed only two years later, when The Monkees were still around, but as cold as last week's mac and cheese. 
More chicks in mini skirts, more dudes in fringe, more grainy, on location shots, more disturbing moods, and another scene in a cemetery. But this time, the Kool-Aid had most definitely been spiked.
And, having read some about the making of this film, Dennis Hopper did his very best to make this scene as realistic as possible. It sounds like he was out of his Feck-in head (get it?). For example,  Peter Fonda is really and truly bumming out with that statue. Hopper made him think of some horrible personal stuff while Fonda was in a, shall we say, susceptible state of mind. Nice.
I don't think any one made any one in the Monkees do the same.
So dig.
Oh, hey: 
If you have time, watch all of both, and see the parallels. If you're in a rush, go to 8:30 in clip one and 5:30 in clip two and watch each for 2 minutes.  You'll hopefully see what I mean. Parallels, man, Par-a-llels-uh!

The Monkees in Paris--1967




Easy Rider--1969



And in case you didn't hit the Head link above, here's the one minute goodie you missed and that ties this mother together.

The Monkees influence on Cinema--part 1 of probably 1

Here I go, taking an amateurish dive into the big screen. This is a thought that occurred to me just now, at 8:30 am after dropping the boy off at school. Because, you know, not enough sleep, caffeine working its way into the brain, synapses waking up....

Here are two similar scenarios. I'm no movie or TV buff, so maybe I'm way off. Maybe this is the video equivalent of someone blogging that "I just had this revelation that a lot of Ramones songs sound like other Ramones songs".

Anyway, here's a scene from The Monkees episode, "A Coffin Too Frequent". A rather weak episode from the second season.
And I HATE Davy's middle part. You will too.

Unfortunately, this scene cuts in JUST after Mike makes an obvious (to me and any hip 10 year olds that were watching)  LSD reference. The evil dude has just told Mike and Mickey, for no good reason, to take a special pill in order for a seance to work (because bands often hold seances in their apartments?). Anyway, Mike replies something like, "Oh, I get it. We take one of these pills and we see a guy come back from the dead. We'll also see lots of pretty colors and things crawling up the wall...".
And.....ACTION!




Something a little familiar (and pretty politically incorrect) about that scene...but political correctness has never been foremost on the mind of.....
MEL BROOKS!




I just realized why I thought of all this. I was in a pharmacy and Taco's "Puttin' On the Ritz" came on.
That used to be my favorite song for a while in 4th grade. have I posted it here before? I feel like I have.



And, I kind of feel really dumb saying this, but this was my thought as I was dancing like a madman in the vitamin aisle: the music in the last minute (say from 3:50 on), sounds a lot like mid-80's Grateful Dead when they would do their disco jams, with the cheesy synth sounds and the envelope filter on the guitar. And no, I'm not going to post an example of that. If you know what I'm talking about, cool. If you don't, that's just fine.
One last thought: "TacoHead".