Chris Stamey - 'Secret Communist Meeting' (2005 live concert)

House Concert
East Windsor, N.J.
Feb. 19, 2005

soundboard recording (sound quality: Ex-)

Two dozen songs, played solo by Chris, with excellent sound quality.

HUGE THANKS to lilpanda and Paul for sharing.

ROB SEZ: Years ago, I made a promise to Chris that I would not share any Chris Stamey solo material here, at least not without his permission. That said, I know there are lots of CS fans who would enjoy this solo show supplied by lilpanda and shared by Paul on his excellent Albums That Should Exist blog. Just pointing you to it isn't really sharing it, right?

GRAB IT HERE.

HAPPY BOXING DAY, Y'ALL

 

Tommy Keene - Live 1993, 2012 & 2017 (sbd + aud)

The Best Recordings I Haven't Yet Shared  

audience & soundboard sources

 

Ambler Cabaret

Ambler, PA

March 20, 1993

  

audience recording (sound quality: VG+) 

  

01 Alive

02 Astronomy

03 Nothing Can Change You

04 Down Down Down

05 We Started Over Again

06 Hanging On to Yesterday

07 Back to Zero

08 Karl Marx

09 Compromise

10 When Our Vows Break

11 My Mother Looked Like Marilyn Monroe

12 Love Is a Dangerous Thing

13 Places That Are Gone

  

ROB SEZ: Today, I am still missing Tommy Keene's presence on the planet and still pondering the "what ifs": What if he hadn't died suddenly in his sleep in 2017 at the tender age of 59? What if he'd been able to share his kind, humane self with us for a while longer? What if he'd lived to create some more beautiful songs, albums, and live shows? What if someone from his circle of family & friends could round up the demos, outtakes, and live recordings that almost surely exist? (Omnivore: are you on it?). Enough of my laments on what should be a joyful day for the world. Here's my gift to you, fellow smart pop fans: the best TK live recordings I haven't already shared here. The first two feature Tommy and band, while the last one is TK solo. MEGA THANKS to realomind and whoever taped & shared the 2012 recording. If you have not yet found this NYC Taper soundboard-audience matrix recording from 2010, go grab it now. P.S. - I might post a collection of lossy TK rarities & live sessions here some time next year, so stop by every so often.

  

NECESSARY READING: Dave Holmes' farewell to TK in Esquire Magazine

   

Tommy Keene: back when the world was his oyster

Sam Bond's Garage

Eugene, OR

Jan. 27, 2012

  

soundboard recording (sound quality: VG++)

   

01 Long Time Missing

02 Deep Six Saturday

03 Behind the Parade

04 Astronomy

05 Nothing Can Change You 

06 His Mother's Son

07 Turning On Blue

08 Back to Zero

09 Compromise

10 Nowhere Drag

11 Places That Are Gone

12 Kill Your Sons

13 His Mother's Son (brief, partial - soundcheck) 

Kung Fu Necktie

Philadelphia, PA

I guess he's wearing the actual Kung Fu Necktie!

April 21, 2017

  

audience recording (sound quality: VG) 

   

01 Going Out Again

02 You Can't Wait for Time

03 Go Back Home

04 Back to Zero

05 Nighttime [Big Star cover]

06 Back Again

07 Astronomy

08 Laugh In the Dark

09 Nothing Can Change You

10 Raymond Chandler Evening

     [Robyn Hitchcock cover]

11 High Wire Days

12 Black and White New York

13 Deep Six Saturday

14 Long Time Missing

15 Compromise

16 Nowhere Drag

17 Places That Are Gone

18 Mother's Little Helper [Rolling Stones cover, with Ivan Julian]

FLAC

  

MP3@320

     

Peter Holsapple - New York, N.Y. 1985

NEW RECORDING SOURCE

 

PH solo show
Gerde’s Folk City 

New York, N.Y.

June 26, 1985

audience recording (sound quality VG+; from first-generation tape source; there’s some audience chatter, but it's not excessive)

PH in motion, Austin, TX 1984

photo by Stephanie Chernikowski

2020 UPDATE: New Gene Poole source for this that's an upgrade, to my ears. I only had time to post the FLAC version, so the MP3 version here is still from the original source. HUGE THANKS to elegymart for sharing the GP version, and to HJ for taping and dB’s Fan for sharing the older one. Highlights here are too numerous to mention. But Peter sounds pumped to be playing this historic venue and offers up several new tunes (some of which were later re-written, while others were never released), as well as plenty of choice covers. Sadly, Folk City closed in 1987.

   

01 Sexual Healing 
     (Marvin Gaye cover)

Peter was here — June 26, 1985

02 Something New

03 Caught In the Blues

04 She Was the One

05 Tail of a Star (Will Rigby cover)

06 Storm Warning

07 Diamond

08 Molly Says

09 Keep Up With You*

10 Darby Hall*

11 Never Before and Never Again

12 On the Battlefront

13 You Don’t Miss Your Water
     (Wm. Bell cover)

14 Close to the Hand

15 Elvis, What Happened?

16 Games People Play 
     (Joe South cover)

17 Long Black Veil (trad.)

18 Moving In Your Sleep

TT: 60 mins., 56 secs.
   

FLAC  (Gene Poole audio source - NEW)
  
MP3@320

Peter Holsapple – guitar, vocals (plus folky, folksy commentary)

*Syd Straw – guest vocalist for 9 + 10

The dB's - Rahar's, Northampton, MA 1980 (aud)

LOSSLESS REPOST

The dB's

Rahar’s

Northampton, MA

1980 (month & date unknown; might be spring)

audience recording (sound quality VG+; transfer from copy of
master tape). There’s a bit of distortion and the sound guy got a little silly with the reverb at times, but otherwise a quite enjoyable early show, with surprisingly little crowd chatter.
    

Very likely one of the band’s first live shows in New England.

   

Highlights: Gene rocks the house with his killer fuzz-tone bass! This show also features the only known recording of a mega-rare Chris composition called “My Sire Wristwatch”. According to Chris, “Sire Records gave out promo wristwatches to promote some punk rock band, and it seemed like some kind of commentary at the time (1978?) about how the scene was changing.” OK now, everybody sing along: "My Sire wristwatch, my Sire wristwatch / Thanks a lot."
    

This is the site of the now-defunct Rahar’s Inn.

Whatever else you might say, at least it’s got character… 

 

BIG HUGE THANKS to the taper and dB’s Fan for the generous
share

01 (I Thought) You Wanted to Know

02 Spitting In the Wind

03 Black and White

04 I Feel Good (Today)

05 Judy

06 Dynamite

07 Soul Kiss

08 pH Factor

09 If and When

10 Can't Take Her Away from Me

11 Bad Reputation

12 My Sire Wristwatch - mega rare song composed by Chris

13 Big Brown Eyes

14 You Got It Wrong

15 The Summer Sun

16 Cycles Per Second

17 Tearjerkin'

18 Death Garage

The dB’s:

Gene Holder – bass

Will Rigby – drums

Chris Stamey – guitar & vocals

Peter Holsapple – guitar, keyboard & vocals

WAV lossless files (from the raw, unedited transfer)

MP3@320

           

What's Up With This Blog??

How 'do, everyone.

If you're paying close attention, you know I've taken an unplanned hiatus from posting anything new since the end of September.

Honestly, after 8 years of doing this as a part-time labor of love, I've needed the break. Life, work, family, and unexpected things like the pandemic have all conspired to make the blog a lower priority for me in recent weeks.

So here's the deal: I do NOT plan to stop doing this altogether. I will share a new Peter Holsapple solo show upgrade soon. But I will be winding down the once-every-week posting schedule by the end of this year.

Starting in 2021, I will post if and when time allows, when there's something timely to share. By "timely to share," I mean something related to the bands & individuals who originally inspired this blog: members of The dB's, Let's Active, and artists connected to the North Carolina indie pop scene. Over time, I will upgrade MP3-only posts with lossless files, probably slowly. (In some instances, I only ever had lossy files, so those will remain as they are.)

Of course, if there's an Alex Chilton, or Big Star, or equivalent news item or post that captures my fancy, you can bet I will post it here for your reading & listening pleasure.

I plan to keep my Dropbox account for the foreseeable future. However: just in case I get hit by a bus (or COVID-19), I recommend paging through the blog to make sure you've got everything you might want to snag. God knows, if I keel over tomorrow, neither my wife nor my kids are gonna THINK about this blog hobby of mine!

Please take care, y'all. Get some sleep. Eat a salad. Hug your loved ones. Wear your masks. And keep enjoying the music.

Rob

Replacements (with Alex Chilton) - Minneapolis, MN 1985

Uptown Bar
Minneapolis, MN 
Jan. 10, 1985
   
audience recording (VG; best available source for this show)

**Alex Chilton sings on several encores**

01 intro

02 Nowhere Is My Home

03 noodling

04 Hear You Been to College / 
     Color Me Impressed 

05 noodling

06 I'm In Love With A Girl (Big Star cover)

07 noodling

08 I Can't Hardly Wait

09 noodling

10 I Will Dare

11 noodling

12 Favorite Thing

13 Polly Wolly Doodle / 
     Waltzing Matilda

14 September Gurls (Big Star cover)

15 Time Is Tight (aborted) (Booker T cover)

16 Baby Strange (T-Rex cover)

17 noodling

18 Black Diamond (Kiss cover)

19 Lookin' for Ya

20 When the Lights Are Out

21 noodling

22 Heart of Stone (Rolling Stones cover) 

23 Left In The Dark (The Vertibrats cover)

24 Answering Machine

25 noodling

26 Left of the Dial

27 banter "Alex Chilton to the Stage, please"

28 Gary's Got a Boner

29 tuning

30 Go

31 If I Only Had a Brain

32 Kansas City Star (Roger Miller cover)

33 noodling

34 Yeah Yeah (The Revillos cover)

35 noodling

36 Takin' Care of Business (BTO cover)

*37 Help Me Rhonda (Beach Boys cover) > 
      Little GTO (Jan & Dean cover)

*38 Can't Get Enough of Your Love (aborted)

*39 Can't Get Enough of Your Love (Bad Company cover) 

*40 I'll Be There

41 Hitchin' a Ride (Vanity Fare cover)

*featuring Mr. Alex Chilton

ROB SEZ: It's been too long since I've posted anything featuring the late, great Alex Chilton. A Replacements show with LX on several encores is a natural combo. 'Mats fans cannot forget the indelible "Alex Chilton", one of the band's signature songs. There are a couple of versions of this show floating around. This one is complete, and features the best sound quality available. HUGE THANKS to the Teddy Ballgame Archive and whoever shared this version of it.

  
FLAC
   
MP3@320

The Reivers - Victoria, BC 1991 (aud)

Harpo's Cabaret
Victoria, British Columbia 
Aug. 1, 1991
  
audience recording (sound quality: VG; from "crowflies" master tape source)

01 intro
02 Other Side
03 Walking the Cow
04 Ragamuffin Man
05 What You Wanna Do? 
06 Wherehaus Jamb
07 A Test
08 Translate Slowly
09 Keep Me Guessing
10 Inside Out
11 What Am I Doing?
12 He Will Settle It
13 It's About Time
14 Almost Home
15 Over and Over
16 Baby
17 Wait for Time
18 pre-encore break
19 Shattered (Rolling Stones cover)
20 Cowboy Song (Thin Lizzy cover)

The Reivers:
John Croslin - vocals & guitar
Kim Longacre - vocals & guitar 
Cindy Toth - bass & violin
Garrett Williams - drums

ROB SEZ: I'm posting this in response to a request from Simon, who asked if I had any ROIOs of The Reivers, an Austin band that might be known to some followers of this blog. They were part of something called the "New Sincerity" movement — which didn't last very long, as far as I can tell. To my ears, the Reivers' music is a mix of fast folk and rock, with a touch of Americana thrown in. The band made some strong albums, which are worth seeking out. BIG THANKS to "crowflies" for recording this one and to Dennis O. for sharing. Please enjoy.
  
FLAC
  
MP3@320
  

Long Ryders - Madrid 1986 (sbd)

LOSSLESS REPOST

The Astoria
Madrid, Spain
Sept. 9, 1986

soundboard recording (quality VG++; from a low-generation tape source)

DISC 1
01 Gunslinger Man
02 How Do We Feel
     What's Real ?
03 Lights of Downtown
04 Prairie Fire
05 The Rest of My Days
06 A Stitch in Time
07 Pushin' Uphill
08 Tell It to the Judge
     On Sunday
09 Harriet Tubman's Gonna 
     Carry Me Home
10 The Light Gets In the Way
11 Ivory Tower
12 Seventeen Ways
13 Long Story Short

DISC 2
01 Capturing the Flag (cuts in) 
02 I Had a Dream
03 Final Wild Son
04 The Upper Hand
05 State of My Union
06 10-5-60 --> Mrs Robinson
07 Looking for Lewis and Clark 
08 encore break
09 You Just Can't Ride
     the Boxcars Anymore
10 Run Dusty Run
11 encore break
12 (What's So Funny ’bout)
     Peace, Love & Understanding?
  

(The guy who shared this says this is the only time the Long Ryders ever covered 
the Elvis Costello / Nick Lowe song "Peace, Love & Understanding")

          

The Long Ryders:

Sid Griffin – vocals, steel guitar, harmonica

Stephen McCarthy – guitar, keyboards, vocals

Greg Sowders – drums

Tom Stevens – bass, vocals

FLAC

MP3@320

  
GOT THE 4-CD BOX SET? TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Featuring plenty of rarities & a previously unreleased live set. Buy it from Amazon.

Learn more about The Long Ryders’ music at the new official site, AllMusic and Sid Griffin’s site
   

I posted SIX COOL THINGS in August!

It's Labor Day Weekend, and I worked my butt off posting lots of cool stuff here in August.

Enjoy those posts; I will return next Friday.
Leaving a comment wouldn't kill you, would it?

-Rob

       

New Will Rigby, Peter Holsapple songs released

Will Rigby Releases Anti-Trumpian "Sin Corazón

+

Peter Holsapple Releases "We All Liked Al"

  

"Sin Corazón" = "without a heart"

Peter Holsapple's "We All Liked Al" takes its title from Raymond Chandler

   

ROB SEZ: I'm pretty sure Will Rigby and Peter Holsapple weren't trying to coordinate the timing of their latest releases, but I love that it's worked out this way. Will served for a few years as drummer in the Peter Holsapple Combo, and a BUNCH of years before that as the drummer for Steve Earle's Dukes. These pre-pandemic responsibilities probably explain why it's been a LONG time since Will had a new release of his own. The new one takes unmistakable aim at the current occupant of the White House (for only a few more months, I pray). The song deploys Will's rhythmic chops and sardonic wit in the service of barbed, entertaining political commentary. (See Will's comment about the song below). I thoroughly dug it, and promptly bought the single at Bandcamp (it's also available in Spanish). For his latest, Peter's new single is released as part of a project that uses a list of unused titles by the late Raymond Chandler to inspire writers & musicians, who then create songs and short stories based on the titles. Project spearhead Gina Arnold has roped in lots of artists for the project, including Amy Rigby. (See Peter's comment below.) Find more Raymond Chandler project creations HERE.
    

WILL RIGBY on the inspiration for "Sin Corazón"

Like you, I’m as angry and distressed about what has happened to our country in  2020 as I've ever been. Never has our government failed its people as much as it is failing us now. Without losing my sense of humor, I put those feelings to a beat, and I hope that “Sin Corazón” is received as both entertainment and political broadside. To paraphrase Emma Goldman, just because we’re protesting doesn’t mean we can’t dance. As a nation and as a people, we must and we will maintain our compassion for and empathy with those around us, even as our so-called leader fails the test. It didn’t have to be this way!

credits:

Released August 19, 2020

Written, performed, and recorded by Will Rigby
With additional vocals and recording by Florence Dore
Recorded in quarantine, Chapel Hill, N.C., May/June 2020
Mixed by Mark Spencer, Tape Kitchen, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mastered by Adam Boose, Cauliflower Audio, Cleveland, OH
Video edited by Suki Hawley

fumptruck
  
PETER HOLSAPPLE on "We All Liked Al"

   
Gina Arnold who is an author and professor at University of San Francisco, had a fine idea: take a list of unused Raymond Chandler titles, and get people to use them for their own devices.
   
Some of her famous friends like Greil Marcus and Amy Rigby contributed, and, opportunist that I am, I badgered my way in and wrote this tune called "We All Liked Al" for The Raymond Chandler Project.
   
Maybe you knew Al too?

      

The dB's - Ritz, New York, N.Y. 1987 - NEW FIND!

The Ritz (119 East 11th St.) 
New York, N.Y.
Oct. 2, 1987
    
audience recording (sound quality: VG+; Gene Poole master recording source)
    
01  intro

The dB's - 1987 touring lineup
Eddie Muñoz (rear left) played 2 shows with The dB's
and Harold Kelt (rear right) continued into 1987
Below: 1987 in-store appearance with Michael J.

02  Today Could Be the Day
03  Never Say When
04  Change With the Changing Times 
05  Working for Somebody Else
06  Lonely Is (As Lonely Does) 
07  She Got Soul
08  A Spy In the House of Love 
09  I Lie
10  Think Too Hard
11  Living a Lie 
12  White Train
13  Sharon
14  Suspicious Minds

TT: 51:03 mins. 
   
The dB's:
Peter Holsapple – lead vocals, guitar
Jeff Beninato – bass, backing vocals
Harold Kelt – keyboards, guitar
Will Rigby - drums, backing vocals
   
ROB SEZ: This one's got great energy, and the sound quality makes a big jump for the better by the end of track 2. I don't have much more to say about this one, except "BIG THANKS" to Gene Poole and elegymart for their generosity. (Check out elegymart's notes for this recording, below.) People like Gene & elegymart are the unsung heroes for those of us who love this music. Why not leave a comment now to say "Thanks"?
    
FLAC
   
MP3@320
   

THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION VOL. 126

This time we take you to a late Friday night show at the Ritz for a set from the dB's. The Go-Betweens and Dash Rip Rock were also on the bill. Tickets were $13.50.

The show finds the band near the end of their first run, before they disbanded in early 1988. This Toyota minivan tour started in September, and after performing a few more dates around this time, they would take over the opening slot from 10,000 Maniacs on R.E.M.'s fall U.S. tour for pretty much the remainder of the year. Peter would later put in a four-year stint as a full-fledged R.E.M. sideman. Also don't ever forget the factoid that they were all label mates with Holly Robinson from "21 Jump Street" back then.

For this set, the dB's as a freshly minted signing from I.R.S. (rescued from the deadweight status of Bearsville) are primarily pushing their latest label release "The Sound of Music," which had been kicking around for about two months at this point, although it had temporarily gone out of print while the label was busily focused on keeping up with the demand to continuing pressing R.E.M.'s excessively popular "Document." Other than "Living a Lie" off Repercussion and the standard closing Elvis cover, the rest of the set are selections from Like This and The Sound of Music. We've got Harold Kelt here on keyboards and additional guitar, doing double duty to take the place of Eddie Muñoz who didn't quite work out after the band's attempt to replace Gene Holder, who had amicably parted to worked with the Wygals full-time. By the end of the tour and before December rolled around, Peter and Will decided Harold's brief gig with the dB's should be consigned to history as well. 

This is a short set probably due to the time of the show, with three bands on a 11PM start time. If Gene taped the other two sets, hopefully he'll find them soon. As with most of his collection, he did not have the exact date noted on this cassette, just "same week as Zevon" noted (technically not the same week, but same weekend, yes: see Vols. 5 & 6). Thanks to gv0000 and john234 always at the ready with their lightning-fast research, the exact date was sussed out. 

Gene flubs the recording levels at the start of the first song, and there's a significant chunk missing on the tape flip. Ironically "Sharon" — a CD bonus track, back when people had to be enticed to buy CDs versus vinyl, before they became popular reigning media and before the world then reverted back to vinyl worship again — gets atrophied, as does the beginning of "Suspicious Minds." The sound of the music though is primo, the drums and instrumentation along with the vocals all in fine balance.

Enjoy,

elegymart