Fresh Boots – 03/16/07

It has been way too long since my last Fresh Boots. In the last several weeks, I have, in fact, obtained new bootlegs, but for whatever reason (namely my own laziness) I haven’t written about them. I am working on some new schedules and plans to maximize my writing while I am also working.

In some ways, working will help me write, because my time is now limited and thus the need to schedule and prioritize is greater.

I have also been spending the past several weeks slowly adding my music collection to my computer, and then onto the iPod. It is slow, grating work, but it is moving along nicely. This has, in part, also kept me from downloading too much music, as the ripping process takes up a lot of memory, and slows downloads a great deal.

Enough of that, let’s get to the boots.

Fresh Boots – 12/16/06

Lucy Kaplansky
02/10/06
Cleveland, OH
Beachland Ballroom

It’s been an off week for weekly features around here at Brewster’s Millions. First I totally miss this week’s Random Shuffle (which I didn’t actually forget it, but put off the final edit for a day and then another and then it was so close to next week I figured I’d skip it entirely) and now it’s late Saturday afternoon and I’m just now writing Fresh Boots. You guys forgive me though, right?

I first heard of Lucy Kaplansky through the group Cry, Cry, Cry, which is kind of a neo-folks super-group Kaplansky formed with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell. They produced one album together, but it is a lovely thing and I’ve since gained interest in their solo projects.

Although that’s not exactly right, for I haven’t actually bought any of their solo albums, but continually think that I should. The good sir, Mark Saleski recently reviewed a Kaplansky album and sent me off to the Archive for this show. I’ve yet to give it a spin (how surprising I know) and look forward to hearing what this lovely voice can produce live.

Robert Randolph & the Family Band
07/29/05
Starland Ballroom
Sayreville, NJ

Likewise a fellow writer recently reviewed a Robert Randolph album and remembering how much my brother-in-law loves this man I decided to hit up the Archive again.

I mostly know Randolph by association. Like I said my brother-in-law is very much a fan and has a few albums, and I have long enjoyed his turn with the Blind Boys in Alabama on their album, Higher Ground. I also caught him the other week on Austin City Limits and put on a spectacular show. This one came highly rated on the Archive so it should be a good showing.

Fresh Boots – 12/8/06

Ben Folds
August 24, 2005
Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA

Ben Folds has slowly grown on me over the years. I first heard of him through a friend of mine while I was living in Joplin, Missouri. She dug the crap out of his album Whatever And Amen, and often played it while we were driving around in her old Camaro. I dug the groove of “500 Angry Dwarves” and the rest of the album was alright while we were driving around together.

It was so alright that I got a copy of that album, but it never seemed as good listening to it by myself. Somehow being in that old sport racer with my friend made it sound better than it actually was. But it was interesting enough to keep Ben Folds in the back of my musical mind.

I thought of him again while reading 31 Songs by Nick Hornby. He talks about Folds ability as a lyricist and how writing a good story is nearly an extinct craft. Again I picked up a copy of Rockin the Suburbs, and again it didn’t really settle into me.

It was only a few months ago, whilst playing an .mp3 CD I had created at work that I truly begun to dig the Fold. Several songs from Rockin’ made it onto the disk and I realized how brilliant they were. A few more spins of the full album and I’m starting to chart myself as a fan.

With that in mind I downloaded this live show the other day. I’ve heard very good things about Folds live and look forward to listening to this.

Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon
November 15, 2002
Mississippi Nights
St. Louis, MO

The Leo Kottke sound has interested me for many years. An acquaintance in college loved the man and I would periodically hear his music coming out of his dorm room. It was intriguing but since we weren’t great friends, I never stayed to hear much more than a few songs. Over the years I’ve heard a few more but I’ve never really sat down and listened to the man in full.

Mike Gordon, of course, used to play for Phish and I’ve never managed to make myself a fan of that band. I’ve heard quite a bit of their work, and while I’d say they are all really talented musicians, as a whole I’ve never been able to get into their sound.

Kotke and Gordon apparently did quite a bit of touring together and the thought of this sixteen string acoustic master playing with a hippie bassist is incredibly intriguing. I’ve slipped through a few songs to get a feel for it, and it sounds absolutely fabulous.

The Beatles
Liberated Christmas Album

The Beatles recorded Christmas wishes for their fanclub every year and sent them out. This is a collection of every one of them. And each year it gets weirder and weirder. For the 1964 recording they sing a bit of a carol and then each of them take turns wishing everyone a happy holiday. By 1969 they started creating this incredibly odd version of A Christmas Carole that’s a bit science fiction and a bit Monty Python. I have to wonder what their fans must have though receiving these things in the mail each year.

Fresh Boots – 12/01/06

For several months now I’ve had a second blog entitled Bootleg Nation. It was all about my bootleg collection and live music. You see at the time I decided I needed a more niche market for my writing and the bootlegs seemed like a good place to start. The idea was that since Brewster’s Millions is such an eclectic space filled with my rambling on all sorts of subjects, I might be turning people off.

Let me explain. Let’s say the average Asian cinemaphile searches for a review of the movie, The Red Shoes and comes to my page. If he likes it he may click on my front page to read more. But instead of more Asian cinema he finds Random Shuffle, or commentary on the latest Simpsons episode. Well, he doesn’t care about these things and clicks away for ever.

I suspect many people do this. They find one article they like, look for other similar articles and find the hodge-podge that is my blog and then leave. Because of this I figured if I can condense my Bootleg writings in one place I might keep like minded people and get return visitors.

The problem is that my bootleg writing has died over the last couple of months. In the interim, Brewster’s Millions has actually found a decent audience. So it looks like curtains for Bootleg Nation.

All of this is to introduce a new feature here at Brewster’s Millions, which is really not new at all as it appeared on Bootleg Nation multiple times.

Fresh Boots should be a regular, weekly feature discussing the new bootlegs I have acquired over the past week. It actually features a bunch of bootlegs that I have had on my hard drive for who knows how long. A recent spat of burning had created CDs of these boots and thus you get them here.

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John Denver 12/2/96
Valley Forge Music Fair, Devon, PA
I usually have to duck when I admit I’m a John Denver fan. His music is just a little too saccharine for most people I know. But there is something I dig about his sincerity and his voice and well, yeah he is saccharine, but sometimes I’m a sucker for sugar.I am also a complete and total sucker for his Christmas album with the Muppets. It would, in fact, top my all time list of best Christmas Albums Ever. This set starts out with a full Muppet version of the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” and is followed by a set of Christmas songs. Though most of them are not on the Muppet album.The second set is all classic Denver stuff, and that’s ok with me.

Byrds 01/04/70
Fillmore West San Francisco, CA
I periodically want to be a Byrd fan. The first record I ever bough of theirs was the Gram Parsons influenced “Sweetheart of the Rodeo.” It is a gorgeous blend of country and rock music and an all time favorite record of mine.

From there I got other albums, and mainly a big boxed set, and for the most part I hate them all. The music is nothing like “Sweetheart” but rather super produced pop music.

Still, I’m always looking for the sound I fell in love with and downloaded this bootleg awhile back. I’ve not given it much of a spin yet, but from what I have heard it sounds like the latter sound and not the stuff I love.

Grateful Dead 03/22/87
Hampton Coliseum Hampton, VA
By 1987 the Dead were a monolith. They were selling out stadiums and very set into their ways. Gone was the experimental troupe of pranksters seeking new frontiers and in its place was this gigantic corporation of musical giganticness.

Now this is not to say that they still didn’t smoke once in awhile. In fact, with the introduction of MIDI technology the Dead found a new way to experiment with sound. A lot of heads really dig the late 80 sound. I’m just not one of them. Garcia’s voice and guitar tone by this point have both become very weak, and the whole MIDI sound is generally kind of irritating.

So, why did I get this disk? Mainly because it was on a fast download, and I’m a sucker for all things Grateful Dead. But also because I have to admit they still produced some danged good music during this period as well.

Ryan Adams 08/01/06
The Ryman Auditorium Nashville, TN
I love Ryan Adams and I especially love him with the Cardinals. I’ve set it before but the Cardinals really seem to elevate Adams to another level. Plus they tend to eliminate his pension for whinny, whispering songs of sadness.

This is a soundboard copy and I’ve been trying to scoop up everything Ryan Adams in high quality. Plus it was performed on Jerry Garcia’s birthday and they do a nice version of “He’s Gone.”

Metallica 12/18/83
Agora Ballroom Cleveland, OH
There were two boys in Junior High that had the long hair and the denim jackets plastered with Mega Death, Iron Maiden and Metallica t-shirts. They were sort of outcasts (the kind of kids you’d probably worry about in this post Columbine world) but they were really fairly happy sort of chaps, like not being the least bit popular didn’t phase them.

It was interesting to see them in the early 90s when Metallica suddenly had a hit record and all the kids were digging them. Suddenly their little underground band was every where. Suddenly they were seen as hip kids who knew about the band way before everybody else.

I admit I landed on Metallica, along with most everybody else during the “Black Album.” I did delve into their back catalog a bit, but for the most part that one album is my experience with the band.

I’m not really why I got this bootleg other than I’m always up for having a larger collection of boots, and any band that expands my repertoire is a good thing. Though I can’t say I foresee myself giving this a real listen anytime soon.

Lucinda Williams 08/09/91
McCabes Guitar Shop Santa Monica, CA
Alternative Car Wheels

I’ve mentioned my love for Lucinda Williams here before. She’s just magic to my ears. She’s got something of a gravely voice, but it fits her songs of the country wood and back roads just perfectly. This is an amazingly crisp recording of her performing what sounds like just her and an acoustic guitar. I can’t wait to give it my full attention in the very near future.

When Car Wheels on a Gravel Road came out there was much ado made about how long it took Lucinda to record it. There were also many mentions of an alternative version she recorded with Steve Earle that got extremely cut in the final version. Thanks to the internets I have a copy. I have yet to give it a single spin, so I can’t say in what ways it differs, nor if it is any better than the copy sitting in the record store.