Check out some of the new music released this week:
Roberta Flack: Let It Be: Roberta Flack Sings The Beatles
Get it at iTunes
Van Halen: A Different Kind Of Truth
Get it at iTunes
Paul McCartney: Kisses On The Bottom
Get it at iTunes
Patrice O’Neal: Mr. P
Get it at iTunes
Brian Courtney Wilson: So Proud
Get it at iTunes
Shaggy: Summer In Kingston
Get it at iTunes
Check out some of the new music released this week:
Van Halen is back… including original lead singer David Lee Roth in all of his glory, original drummer Alex Van Halen and Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang on bass. The new single “Tattoo” is from the forthcoming album A Different Kind Of Truth, which is scheduled for release on February 7. Check it out!
You know I’ve always been a dreamer
(Spent my life runnin’ round)
And it’s so hard to change
(Can’t seem to settle down)
But the dreams I’ve seen lately
Keep turnin’ out, and burnin’ out,
And turnin’ out the same…
“Take It to the Limit,” The Eagles’ 1975 Top Ten hit about a lonely wanderer who never managed to make much of his life, carried a country tone with a tinge of blues around the edges. Etta connected with this song—perhaps saw herself in it—and began including it in her stage act, eventually recording it in the studio on Deep in the Night in 1978—a year that also found her headlining the Montreal Jazz Festival and touring as opening act for no less than the Rolling Stones.
Though Etta would continue to perform the occasional live concert after 1978, she would largely leave the spotlight for the next ten years, struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction so badly that she would release only one studio album in the following decade.
And when you’re lookin’ for freedom
(Nobody seems to care)
And you can’t find the door
(Can’t find it anywhere)
1981′s Live From San Francisco comes from that rough period, a bootleg recording that, despite all her hardships, shows Etta clearly in full command of her powers. Refusing the trends of the day, she never got involved with disco, funk, or Philly soul, and stayed hard and true to the gritty blues that spoke from deep within.
When Randy Meisner, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley wrote “Take It to the Limit,” surely they could never have imagined just how bluesy it truly was. In a period when she was fighting her own demons for her life, in Etta’s hands these lyrics reached their full potential. When she raises to a full-throated roar on “You know I’ve always been a dreamer,” she sounds practically on the verge of tears, and you know this is a woman who’s been given a raw deal her whole life. She’s had to fight for everything she’s ever gotten, and times have gotten darker than she’ll ever say, but she’s never given up on finding what she deserves. That theme has been the trademark wellspring of tormented soul that’s laced throughout Etta’s entire catalog—right through her final album, 2011′s The Dreamer.
Slowed way down into a dragging church waltz with reverent piano and organ and a call-and-response chorus, Etta reaches in with her bare hands and molds this song into a religious experience—a testament to the determination of the human soul, a sermon on the gospel of regret.
…So put me on the highway
And show me a sign
And take it to the limit
One more time…
From the press release:
The 2012 edition of the critically acclaimed Experience Hendrix concert tour, will launch with a three week run of dates starting March 6th featuring an all-star lineup of musical greats paying homage to the abiding genius of Jimi Hendrix. Presented by Fender Musical Instruments, this year’s tour will include performances by Buddy Guy, Dweezil Zappa, Billy Cox, Robby Kreiger [The Doors], Robert Randolph, Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, David Hidalgo & Cesar Rosas [Los Lobos], Keb’ Mo, Eric Johnson, Brad Whitford [Aerosmith], Living Colour, Chris Layton [Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble],The Slide Brothers as well as other special guests to be announced. The announcement coincides with latest issue of Rolling Stone wherein Jimi Hendrix was, predictably, designated “The Greatest Guitarist of All Time.” The tour will alight in twenty markets including Baltimore, Nashville, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, , Houston, Austin, Denver and more.
In terms of format, the tour offers multiple opportunities for performers and audiences to witness unique collaborations among the participating artists such as Dweezil Zappa with Billy Cox, Buddy Guy with Robert Randolph, Jonny Lang with Brad Whitford and will highlight these artists and the others performing their favorite Hendrix signature songs including “Little Wing,” “Fire,” “Purple Haze,” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”. As has been the case with previous Experience Hendrix outings, special guests are expected to sit in at many of the dates, making the concerts all that much more memorable for both new and veteran Hendrix fans. Past special guests have included Paul Rodgers, Joe Satriani, Hubert Sumlin, Steve Vai, Carlos Santana and others. The tour’s presence has been made known on national TV with Robert Randolph performing classic Hendrix on the Late Night With Conan O’Brien, and Jonny Lang on Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show and Kenny Wayne Shepherd playing Jimi Hendrix’s actual Woodstock guitar on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Shepherd, a veteran of several Experience Hendrix tours remarked, “Jimi Hendrix’s music has really inspired me to push the limits of my own music. He didn’t observe any boundaries musically. He was an amazing player and a tremendous showman so I incorporated some of his showmanship in what I do.” As far as having been part of the Experience Hendrix touring phenomenon, Shepherd noted, “It touches you on the inside and gets you fired up.”
The Experience Hendrix Tour is presented by Experience Hendrix, LLC, the Hendrix family-owned company founded by James A. “Al” Hendrix, Jimi’s father, entrusted with preserving and protecting the legacy of Jimi Hendrix.
March, 2012 Experience Hendrix Tour confirmed dates (additional dates to be added)
6 – Tue – Baltimore, MD – Strathmore Theater
7 – Wed – Greensboro, NC – War Memorial Auditorium
8 – Thu – Knoxville, TN – Civic Auditorium
9 – Fri – Nashville, TN – Tennessee Performing Arts Center
10 – Sat – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theater
11 – Sun – Charleston, SC – North Charleston Performing Arts Center
14 – Wed – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock
15 – Thu – Clearwarter, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
16 – Fri – Saint Augustine, FL – Saint Augustine Amphitheatre
17 – Sat – Orange Beach, AL – Warf Amphitheatre
22 – Thu – Houston, TX Arena Theater
23 – Fri – Thackerville, OK – Winstar Casino
24 – Sat – Austin, TX – ACL Live @ Moody Theater
Oh this day in music history, 12-6-1969, Led Zeppelin made their debut on the US singles chart with ‘Whole Lotta Love’, it went on to make No.4 on the chart and was the first of six Top 40 singles for the group in the US. The first single from their second album, Led Zeppelin II
A perfect lazy Sunday afternoon groove. One of my favorite parts of this song has always been listening Sonny Rollins blow over this Caribbean influenced track.
BTW, through the joys of You Tube/Major Labels etc., you cannot embed the original video, so thanks to these nice folks who put this video together, that has not gotten snatched down…yet.
B-I-G congratulations to iconic Canadian Rock Band Rush has been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Forty years of excellent musicianship, songwriting and still going strong, this is a well deserved accomplishment. Will your favorite artist be able to say that??
Sixteen songs including: Tom Sawyer
