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20,000 Blog Hits Celebration = Charlotte Times 2!

One day last week, 

The dB's Repercussion Blog

reached the 20,000 hits mark —
6 months after its debut.

Pretty Dang Cool, I think!

HOW TO CELEBRATE? 

Get double happy with a double helping of dB's shows from Charlotte, NC 

(where I've spent a lot of time since moving there when I was 12).

Both shows were supplied by friends of the blog, so special thanks go out this week to Batchain and to Scott.

ENJOY!

Milestone, Charlotte, NC 1980 + bonus

The dB's

The Milestone

Charlotte, NC

Oct. 8, 1980

audience recording (sound quality VG). The mix comes & goes in the first two songs, so I cut & faded in both; otherwise smooth sailing for the rest of the show, with a good clear mix.

NOTE: last 3 tracks are from an early 1980s show in Atlanta, GA
 
Highlight: great high-energy show. You get the feeling the guys knew that punk bands also performed at The Milestone, and you can hear it in their playing. 
 

BIG THANKS to the taper and Batchain for the share!

A band you can really look up to...  

photo by Stephanie Chernikowski

DISC 1

01 (I Thought) You Wanted to Know (beginning cut; fades in)

02 Judy (beginning cut; fades in)

03 Dynamite        

04 Soul Kiss

05 pH Factor

06 Death Garage

07 You Can’t Take Her Away From Me

08 My Back Pages

09 (unknown instrumental)

10 Bad Reputation

11 What’s the Matter With Me?

12 You Got It Wrong

13 I Feel Good (Today)

14 Big Brown Eyes

15 The Summer Sun

DISC 2

16 Tearjerkin’

17 The Fight

18 If and When

19 Let’s Live for Today

20 Everlasting Love

21 What I Dig

22 Spitting In the Wind*

23 Black and White*

24 The Summer Sun*

     *last 3 tracks are from an early 1980s show in Atlanta, GA (#s 22-24 
      have sometimes circulated with The Ritz, NYC, Feb. 1982 recording)

Disc 1 (MP3@320)
Disc 2 (MP3@320)

Alt. Link (Disc 1)
Alt. Link (Disc 2)

The dB's:

Chris Stamey

Will Rigby

Gene Holder

Peter Holsapple

The dB's ponder the future  
S. Chernikowski photo

CBGB - NYC 1979 + Early Demos

The dB’s
CBGB
New York, NY
March 21, 1979
+ early demos

 

With all the recent talk of the band’s history and “30 Years Ago...”, 

I thought a musical dose of The dB’s early days might be fun.

 

BIG THANKS to the taper and Batchain for the share!

In the live set, only 2 songs from the debut album appear, alongside several early tunes that later disappeared from the group’s repertoire. For extra fun, compare the punked-up live version of "If & When" to the demo!

Central Park Lake, NYC, 1980
photo by Laura Levine

CBGB, NYC
March 21, 1979
(aud., sound quality VG to VG+)

01 The Summer Sun (first few secs. cut, fades in) 
02 Dynamite (sound quality dips for about 90 secs.) 
03 You're Gonna Want Me To*
04 She's Green, I'm Blue
05 Everytime, Anytime
06 Bad Reputation
07 Rendezvous (brief distortion at 0:46 & 2:19)
08 My Back Pages
09 If and When
10 We Were Happy There
11 Let's Live for Today
12 The World Keeps Goin' Round (slight buzzing on this & final track)
13 Hey Baby* 
  
      *titles are guesses, based on song lyrics

The dB’s and the NYC skyline, c. 1980

The dB’s

Early Demos (late 1970s)
(sbd., from multi-gen. cassette; sound quality Gd+ to VG-)

01 (I Thought) You Wanted to Know (demo)

02 If and When (demo) + instrumental

03 We Should Be In Bed (demo)

04 What I Dig (demo)

05 Nonsequitur of Silence (demo)

A probable date for these demos would be 1978 (the first 3 at least). The sound quality is a bit less than the live set, and you can hear a dropout once in a while, but otherwise pretty darn listenable for the age & origins of the material. I checked to be sure there’s no overlap with the oldest tracks on The dB’s excellent Ride the Wild Tom-Tom comp or either of the Sneakers comps (look HERE or here). One or two may be the same take, but in any case, the mixes are different than the released versions. 

Check out the instrumental that Chris tacked onto the “If and When” demo — guitar feedback segueing into classical woodwinds; very weird & very cool!

MP3@320

Alt. Link

Chris Stamey & The dB’s

Gene Holder - bass

Will Rigby - drums

Chris Stamey – guitar, vocals

Peter Holsapple – guitar, vocals

Before the name was shortened, the band was

known in the early days as “Chris Stamey & The dB’s”

(flyer from March 1979 show, Hot Club, Philly)

The Golden Palominos - Toronto 1987 + bonus

El Mocambo

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

April 1987 (from the "Blast of Silence" tour)

Repercussion: Lots of links between The dB's and The Golden Palominos: Peter H wrote "Diamond," one of the group's best songs (2 versions are featured here). Chris played bass on several of the group's albums and here, on the tracks from the Boston show. Longtime dB's friend Peter Blegvad wrote several GPs songs and sings some of them in these two shows. Another longtime dB's friend, Syd Straw, is the lead singer for many of these.

(Toronto show: audio rip from pro-shot video, sound quality VG+; Boston show: audience rec., sound quality VG-)

Syd Straw and cohorts in The Golden Palominos at the El Mocambo

SAMPLE: "(Kind of) True [Toronto 1987]"

01 Intro + Diamond

02 Angels Voices

03 Work Was New

04 The Push and The Shove

05 Merry Go Round

06 Something Nothing

07 Buenos Aires

08 Quiet Her

09 Rockin' My Soul

10 (Kind of) True

11 Risk of Love

12 When You Love Somebody

13 The Ocean (Led Zeppelin cover)

 

14 The Last Man*

15 Something Else (Is Working Harder)*

16 Without a Trace*

17 Diamond*

*Last 4 are from March 17, 1987, Boston, MA show (audience rec.)

*Chris Stamey on bass & vocals in place of Matthew Sweet

MP3@320

Alt. Link

Drummer Anton Fier is the founder of The Golden Palominos

LINEUP:

Peter Blegvad: guitar & vocals

Anton Fier: drums

Jody Harris: guitar

Lisa Herman: keyboards & vocals

*Chris Stamey: bass & vocals
Syd Straw: vocals

Matthew Sweet: bass & vocals

Bernie Worrell: organ

 Learn more about The Golden Palominos at AllMusic
 

R.E.M. with Peter H - MTV Unplugged 1991, etc.

R.E.M. with Peter Holsapple
(various venues, years, etc.)

 

Repercussion: The dB’s and R.E.M. have all kinds of ties through the years (see below). Here, I’ve hand-picked some choice tracks, many of which are R.E.M. with Peter H singing lead vocals. The MTV Unplugged set is a nifty R.E.M. acoustic show with Peter as accordion and mandolin-playing sideman. Stay with this one until you get to the bonus tracks…

BIG THANKS to the tapers, uploaders, Margaret Griffis for permission to use her great photo, and Ed A for the inspiration

Peter and Peter, jamming in 1984 
photo by Margaret Griffis via Flickr

Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ (aud.)

1982-11-27

01 Sloop John B

02 Judy

Hobo's, Knoxville, TN (aud.)

1982-11-10

03 Neverland

MTV Unplugged (DVD audio rip)

Chelsea Studios, NYC

1991-04-10 (R.E.M.’s first MTV Unplugged session)

04 Half a World Away

05 Disturbance at the Heron House

06 Radio Song

07 Low

08 Perfect Circle

09 Fall On Me

10 Belong

11 Love is All Around

12 It's the End of the World as We Know It

13 Losing My Religion

14 Pop Song '89

BONUS TRACKS:

The dB’s were the first group 
to perform at

the R.E.M. Tribute Show in 2009

Mountain Stage, Charleston, WV (pre-FM soundboard)

1991-04-28

15 White Train

 

R.E.M. Tribute Concert (aud.)

Carnegie Hall, NYC

2009-03-11

16 Fall On Me (The dB’s cover R.E.M.)
so-so recording of a strong performance

LINKS DELETED
Viacom, which owns MTV, said this was
a copyright violation, so I yanked 'em.
  

Peter Buck plays on “Black & White” during The dB’s opening set for an R.E.M. show in 1984

Page Auditorium, Duke University, Durham, NC photo by Batchain

THE dB's - R.E.M. CONNECTION

• Chris Stamey forms The dB's in NYC a year or so before R.E.M. got started in Athens, GA. Having in common a southern upbringing and similar musical tastes (eg, Television & Big Star), R.E.M. looks up to The dB's, who were pioneers in the DIY American indie rock scene.
• In early 1981, R.E.M. manager Jefferson Holt asks Peter Holsapple about possible producers for some of their first professional studio recordings. Peter H recommends that they look up his childhood friend Mitch Easter in Winston-Salem, NC. (If you know much about R.E.M.'s early recordings, all I have to say at this point is "the rest is history.")
• R.E.M. opens for The dB's at Friday's in Greensboro, NC on Oct. 20, 1981 (see music post HERE).
• After the live tour following the release of Repercussion, members of The dB's are at loose ends. R.E.M. invites Peter H to open for them as a solo, acoustic act. Peter H does exactly that at about two dozen shows in Oct. and Nov. of 1982.  (The first 3 tracks above are from a couple of these shows.)
• At the time the album Like This is released, The dB's open for R.E.M. early Sept. to mid Oct. 1984.
• Peter Buck uses his pull at R.E.M.'s label, IRS Records, to lobby the powers-that-be to sign The dB's to the IRS roster. It happens in early 1987.
• After the release of The dB's The Sound of Music album on IRS Records in August of 1987, the band once again opens for R.E.M. on the latter's "Work Tour." The dB's play numerous opening slots from late Oct. through the end of Nov. in 1987. Ironically, The Sound of Music goes out of print while The dB's are on tour because IRS devotes most of its vinyl-pressing capacity to produce more copies of R.E.M.'s increasingly-popular Document album, which features the hit song "The One I Love."
• After The dB's call it quits in 1988, Peter H is invited to join R.E.M. as a touring musician with the band, mainly playing additional guitar and keyboard. He plays with R.E.M. for nearly all dates of the "Green World Tour" in 1989.
• Peter H joins R.E.M. in the recording studio in late 1990 as they work on tracks for their next album, Out of Time (including the eventual U.S. Top 10 hit, "Losing My Religion"). He also joins them for the promotional tour in 1991 which followed the release of the album. One of these is the Mountain Stage appearance in April from which the above track, "White Train," was taken.
• Following reported differences over credit and compensation for the R.E.M. songs on which Peter H played (those that were commercially released), he is not invited to join the band for the Automatic for the People recording sessions or subsequent promotional appearances. Afterwards, all parties downplay the significance of any differences, and continue to praise each others' personal character and musical accomplishments.
• The dB's are invited to perform at a tribute show, "The Music of R.E.M. at Carnegie Hall," in 2009 (see above). The dB's are first on the bill, performing "Fall On Me." 

FOtS on Vinyl - Mini Review

Falling Off the Sky on Vinyl - mini review

The vinyl package includes the 12-track CD 
and a download card to access 5 bonus tracks.

BONUS TRACKS accessible by download card in the vinyl package:

1. Revolution of the Mind

2. Picture Sleeve

3. The Instrumental Adventures of Albatross and Doggerel

4. The Wonder of Love (Ian Schreier Radio Remix)

5. Before We Were Born (Scott Litt "T Rex" Mix)

SO VERY COOL to have the new album on 180-gram vinyl. "Old school is the best school," I thought to myself as I unwrapped the box — and this coming from someone without a working turntable! (I hope to get mine fixed soon or borrow a friend's so I can hear how the LP sounds.)

Did someone say "value for money"?!? For a little under $20, you get the LP, the album art in the "correct" size, a great-looking inner sleeve with full album credits and color photos, the 12-track CD in a cardboard sleeve, and a card with a unique code. Go online to Bar-None's web site, click the Downloads tab at the top, and you'll be taken to a screen where you'll be asked for the code. Type it in, hit the "Get Your Music" button, and after a few seconds' wait, you'll have the 5 bonus tracks, all in high-quality MP3 (@320 kbps).

And what about those bonus tracks? Well, you've probably heard at least a couple of 'em already. There's nothing very surprising to be heard, but I must admit I'm glad to have them. The first 3 previously-released tracks sound great in high-quality sound (for example, most folks have only heard "Revolution of the Mind" in the lower-quality version released via the band's web site). 

To my ears, the mixes for Tracks 1 and 2 sound slightly different than those previously released. In particular, the backing vocals on "Revolution" sound more prominent in this mix, which I prefer to the original. I missed the earlier release of Track 3, "The Instrumental Adventures of Albatross and Doggerel," which at one point was available as a free download on the band's web site. But it may be the best of the bunch. As much as I love the album version, this one removes the lead vocals so you can better enjoy the song's musical dynamics and instrumental interplay. Worth repeated listening.

And what about those final two remixes? Well ... they're cool to have, as I said. But they're not the radical remixes or revisionings of the songs that some might have hoped for. You do hear some extra brass riffs on the Ian Schreier remix of "The Wonder of Love." And Scott Litt used extra reverb on Chris' vocals for the T-Rex Mix of "Before We Were Born." Otherwise, they sound a lot like the album versions. I can imagine, however, that someone out there might like them better than the master versions.

Bottom line? If you've been hesitating to spring for the LP release of Falling Off the Sky, you shouldn't wait any longer. Think of all the ephemeral and disposable stuff you spend $20 or more on and tell yourself the truth, "This week, I'd rather spend it on the vinyl edition of one of the greatest alt-pop albums released in recent memory."

Maxwell's - Hoboken, NJ 1985

The dB's

Maxwell’s

Hoboken, NJ

Nov. 1, 1985

audience recording (VG quality)

Highlight: a rather energetic "hometown" show; enjoy! 

BIG THANKS to glenn s for recording & sharing!

Then there were three: with the departure of Chris, 
 The dB's were down to 3 original members by 1985

01 Black and White

02 Lovers of Today (Only Ones cover)

03 Any Old Thing

04 Not Cool

05 Lonely Is as Lonely Does

06 Next to the Last Waltz

07 Judy

08 Working for Somebody Else

09 She Got Soul

10 I Lie

11 Never Say When

12 Rains Around Here

13 Living a Lie

14 Amplifier

15 Love Is for Lovers

16 Goin’ Out of My Head (cover)

17 A Spy In the House of Love

18 Neverland

19 Why Don’t We Do It In the Road? (cover)

20 See No Evil (Television cover)

21 Money (That’s What I Want) – [cover]

The place to be in Hoboken.  
photo by EmilyNorton via Flickr

MP3@320

Alt. link (disc 1)

Alt. link (disc 2)

The dB’s:

Will Rigby – drums & vocals

Gene Holder – guitar

Peter Holsapple – guitar & vocals

Rick Wagner - bass
   

Alejandro Escovedo - Austin, TX 2004

Texas Union Hall

Austin, TX

Oct. 1, 2004

soundboard recording (quality Ex-)

Repercussion: Chris Stamey produced a couple of albums for Alejandro and, together, they co-wrote the song “One True Love” — which Alejandro sings in this show. It’s one of the only times he’s played it live. After being diagnosed with Hepatitis C and its complications, Alejandro was forced to take a break from music. The following show marks his return to public performances.

BIG THANKS to Don L for the recording and necronomekon for upping it!

Alejandro at his triumphant return after several years' absence

Disc 1
01 Paradise

02 Broken Bottle

03 (banter 1)

04 Dark Eyes (Bob Dylan cover)

05 Baby's Got New Plans

06 One True Love (co-written with Chris Stamey)

07 Wave

08 (banter 2)

09 Notes On Air

10 Everybody Loves Me

11 Crooked Fame

12 (banter 3)

13 Tugboat

14 (banter 4)

15 Follow you Down

16 By Eleven

Disc 2

01 (banter 5)

02 Five Hearts Breaking

03 (banter 6)

04 Dear Head On the Wall

05 Velvet Guitar

06 (banter 7)

07 Castanets

08 (encore break 1)

09 The Ballad of the Sun and the Moon

10 Break This Time

11 (encore break 2)

12 Rosalie

NOTE: You can just delete all the banter & encore breaks after downloading if you don't want the chitchat & extra applause to get in the way of the music...

Alejandro and some of his collaborators, Austin, TX, Oct. 1, 2004

MP3@320

Alt. Link (Disc 1)

Alt. Link (Disc 2)

Lineup:

Alejandro Escovedo, vocals, guitar

Andrew DuPlantis, bass

Jon Dee Graham, guitar

Hector Munoz, drums

Bruce Standefer, cello

Susan Voetz, violin

THANKS to rioblanco for the photos!

THE ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO – CHRIS STAMEY CONNECTION

Chris and AE, listening to an album mix.

Alejandro Escovedo has recorded more than 12 albums.

 

• Chris produced Alejandro’s Bourbonitis Blues in 1999 and A Man Under the Influence in 2001.
• Chris and Alejandro co-wrote the song “One True Love.” Three versions are known to exist: the one released on the John Cale-produced album The Boxing Mirror. A second — said to be more raw and live-sounding (with Stamey engineering, I think) — was available briefly as a thank-you to those who contributed to Escovedo’s medical fund. It’s no longer available anywhere (but I'd really like to hear this version, if anyone can help me out).
• Chris and Roman Candle recorded a third version of the song for the Alejandro benefit album called Por Vida. You can purchase the song or the whole album to download at the usual places. 
• To my knowledge, Chris and Alejandro have never played together live, but I’d love to be proven wrong about this…

LEARN MORE ABOUT ALEJANDRO'S MUSIC:

AllMusic