Archive for the ‘CLASSIC ALBUMS’ Category

ST VINCENT – ” Daddy’s Home “

Posted: March 4, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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St. Vincent has teased her next album with a poster campaign. The new record is reportedly called “Daddy’s Home” and it reportedly drops May 14 via Loma Vista.

Teasers for St. Vincent‘s anticipated follow-up to 2017’s “Masseduction” have begun popping up, and while officially Annie Clark has been mum on the subject, recently tweeting “Nothing to see here,” she’s now discussed the album, which is apparently called Daddy’s Home and features production by Jack Antonoff, more in a new interview on Substack newsletter The New Cue. “I would say it’s the sound of being down and out Downtown in New York, 1973,” she says. “Glamour that hasn’t slept for three days.”

“In hindsight, I realized that the [last album, 2017’s] Masseduction and tour was so incredibly strict,” she continues, “whether it was the outfits I was wearing that literally constricted me, to the show being tight and the music being angular and rigid. When I wrapped that, I was like ‘oh, I just want things that are fluid and wiggly and I want this music to look like a Cassavetes film. I wanted it to be warm tones and not really distorted, to tell these stories of flawed people being flawed and doing the best they can. Which is kind of what my life is.”

Images of the teaser posters have been cropping up across social media platforms. They feature a blond Annie Clark standing in a maroon suit next to what appears to be an album cover. “St. Vincent is back with a record of all-new songs,” a text panel reads. “Warm Wurlitzers and wit, glistening guitars and grit, with sleaze and style for days. Taking you from uptown to downtown with the artist who makes you expect the unexpected.” The poster claims that the record will be available May 14th.

Late last year, Clark said that a new album was “locked and loaded” for 2021. In between producing music for Sleater-Kinney, hosting a podcast from her shower, and putting the finishing touches on Daddy’s Home, St. Vincent may have entered a dirty rabbit hole, exploring more sordid tales.

A song that makes you feel like you need to permission to listen, “Pay Your Way In Pain” oozes the funk of what’s to be expected from Daddy’s Home.

“‘Daddy’s Home’ collects stories of being down and out in downtown NYC,” says Clark. “Last night’s heels on the morning train. Glamour that’s been up for three days straight.”

Asked what she was listening to while making this album, Annie says, “I went back to these records that I probably listened to more in my life than at any other time, music made in New York from 1971-76, typically post-flower child, kick the hippie idealism out of it, America’s in a recession but pre-disco, the sort of gritty, raw, wiggly nihilistic part of that. It’s not a glamorous time, there’s a lot of dirt under the fingernails. It was really about feel and vibe but with song and stories.”

Through a grainier retro screen, Annie Clark (St. Vincent) is summoning her inner 1970s starlet sleaze on Daddy’s Home (Loma Vista), out May 14th, sharing the first single “Pay Your Way in Pain” with a video, directed by Bill Benz—who also worked on Clark and Carrie Brownstein’s upcoming movie The Nowhere Inn—showing St. Vincent entering a vortex of network television variety shows.

“Daddy’s Home” is expected May 14th via Loma Vista, and lead single “Pay Your Way In Pain” is reportedly arriving Friday (March 5th).

VAN MORRISON – ” Latest Record Project ” Volume 1

Posted: March 4, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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“Latest Record Project’ is the opening track and introduction to Van Morrison’s forthcoming 42nd studio album ‘Latest Record Project Vol. 1’ which explores the classic and timeless quality of the blues from a fresh perspective. Van charms the listener, soulfully singing “Have you got my latest record project?” Instinctive walking basslines, colourful backing vocals, and organ melodies bring warmth to his latest release. Equal parts blue-eyed soul shouter and wild-eyed poet-sorcerer, Van Morrison’s status as an artist of integrity and distinction is self-evident.

Van Morrison will release his 42nd album Latest Record Project: Volume 1 (Exile/BMG) on May 7th. The 28-track collection, weaved around Morrison’s love of jazz, R&B, blues, and soul, was born out of a period of forced isolation in 2020, following the onset of the pandemic. When Morrison found himself without a tour in site, he immersed himself in a constant flow of song writing, starting songs off on piano, guitar or saxophone as he pieced together the new material, all textured in his rhythm and soul.

The album’s title track is from the heart, wrapped in upbeat harmonies and backing sha la la las with Morrison reflecting a newfound excitement for his new music in Not something that you’re used to / Not something you might be able to relate to in the present through livelier refrains of Have you got my latest record project?

Other tracks revealed off Latest Record Project included an R&B tinged “Jealousy,” garage rock “Stop Bitching, Do Something,” and a more country-fused “A Few Bars Early.”

In releasing Latest Record Project, which will be available on double-CD, deluxe-CD, triple-vinyl and digital formats, Morrison says he’s breaking out of the rotation of his greatest hits. 

“I’m getting away from the perceived same songs, same albums all the time,” says Morrison ofLatest Record Project. “This guy’s done 500 songs, maybe more, so hello. Why do you keep promoting the same 10? I’m trying to get out of the box.”

The Official Lyric Video for Latest Record Project by Van Morrison. The new double album Latest Record Project Volume 1 will be release on 7th May 2021.

JOHN LENNON – ” Plastic Ono Band ” Super Deluxe Box Set

Posted: March 4, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The sessions that birthed John Lennon’s raw and deeply personal 1970 solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band receive the full unfettered treatment via a massive, lavishly crafted eight-disc super deluxe box set scheduled for release April 16th.

The eleven songs on the original album were a cathartic release for Lennon amid his recent break from the Beatles. Now, 50 years later, the influential album is remixed and remastered in a collection that features 159 tracks across six CDs and two Blu-ray audio discs. Clocking in at a whopping 11 hours of music, each song is presented in multiple forms- dubbed Ultimate Mixes, Evolution Mixes, Element Mixes, Raw Studio Mixes and Demos which include new mixes, rough demos, outtakes, rehearsals and jam sessions.

A separate single disc will be sold which includes the Ultimate Mixes of the original album and Lennon’s first three non-album singles, and an expanded 2CD or 2LP version adds a disc of outtakes of each song. The Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band album, originally released at the same time and recorded with the same core musicians plus guests, including Ornette Coleman, is included on the Blu-Ray edition.

Everything in this comprehensive box set has been newly mixed from scratch from brand new 192kHz/24bit hi-res transfers. In addition to the various new mixes, the set boasts 87 never-before-heard recordings. The Blu-rays present an array of listening options including high-definition, studio quality 192kHz/24bit audio in stereo and enveloping 5.1 Surround and Dolby Atmos for the Ultimate Mixes.

Quick takes on a few songs: Lennon’s guide vocal on the “God” Elements Mix alternates back and forth in sections between a talking vocal and a vulnerable sung vocal. “Mother” evolves from Lennon at home on guitar to experimenting with a tremolo guitar backing track before ultimately deciding on the piano version that opens the record.

George Harrison makes an appearance playing electric guitar on “Instant Karma (Raw Studio Mix)” an early take included here but recorded before the Plastic Ono Band sessions. Unsurprisingly, George’s jagged but melodic electric guitar work on this January 27th, 1970 take of the song makes the track sound more like a continuation of the Beatles than a Lennon solo song. Other takes of “Instant Karma” feature Harrison on acoustic guitar.

“Give Peace A Chance” and “Cold Turkey,” two other pre-session tracks, are presented in work tape and rough versions. Interestingly, “Power To The People” and “Do The Oz,” two 1971 Plastic Ono Band songs included on the 2000 reissue, are not included here.

While Lennon only recorded two takes of the harrowing album closer “My Mummy’s Dead,” four versions are included on the box in slightly different mixes.

The common perception regarding Lennon’s frame of mind when he went in to record the music was that of an emotionally fragile man. He and Yoko had experimented with an intensive six-month therapy program called Primal Scream, which unlocked his emotional childhood traumas and provided the lyrical basis for many of the songs that wound up on the album.

The rawness is definitely oozing from the tracks, but as the box set and photos in the beautiful 132-page hardcover book in the deluxe edition reveals, Lennon was in a pretty positive ‘let’s make music’ frame of mind. This is particularly evident during the loose set of jams that occupy one disc in the deluxe box, collected from various dates over the month-long recording sessions. Lennon and the band warm up and run through a bunch of ‘50s tunes and more, including a joking Elvis impression medley.

The book also includes an extensive interview with Arthur Janov (the late psychologist who pioneered Primal Scream therapy), scores of master multitrack box photos, track recording sheets, commentary on each song from those involved in the sessions and a visual map layout of the surround sound’s instrumentation.

Engineer Paul Hicks explains the Elements Mixes: “When we were going through the outtakes and even the master takes in some cases, we found the occasional overdub where we could understand why they didn’t end up using it, but we thought was fascinating to hear. The conga on ‘I Found Out,’ the extra vocals on ‘Hold On,’ the alternative organ take on ‘Isolation’ and maracas on ‘Well Well Well’ are a few examples.”

 

There were no set rules for any of the selections, really. It was just per song – what did we feel would be nice to isolate or show off, that might have escaped people’s initial listening experience.”

The liner notes also explain the Evolution Mixes. Each track has been edited down from all the original 8-Track multitracks, quarter-inch live recordings and mixes and a few demo cassettes. ‘These are ‘mini-documentaries that explore the development of each song through their elements, arrangements and the musicians that play on them.’

This reissue is fully authorized by Yoko Ono, who oversaw the production and creative direction, and from the same audio team that worked on 2018’s critically acclaimed Imagine – The Ultimate Collection, including triple GRAMMY®-Award winning engineer Paul Hicks and mixers/engineers Rob Stevens and Sam Gannon.

Featuring John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr, Klaus Voormann, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Alan White and Phil Spector. Completely Remixed from the original multitracks, containing Ultimate Mixes, Out-Takes, Elements, Raw Studio and Evolution Mixes; Demos, Jams and Yoko Ono Live Sessions. SUPER DELUXE BOX SET CONTAINS: 6 CDs – 102 new Stereo Mixes – over 6 hours of audio. 2 Blu-Ray Audio Discs – 159 new Stereo Mixes – Over 11 hours of audio in Hi-Res 192/24 Stereo, 5.1 Surround and Dolby Atmos Mixes. 132 Page Hardback Book With Rare Photos, Memorabilia and Extensive Notes. WAR IS OVER! Poster and 2 Postcards. Also Available: 2 CD, 1 CD, 2 LP, Download and Streaming.

KINGS OF LEON – ” When You See Yourself “

Posted: March 4, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Nathan Followill is reflecting on the year-long wait to release Kings of Leon’s next and eighth studio album “When You See Yourself”, released March 5th, and how the band circumvented their natural instincts to completely overhaul the album after sitting on it for so long. The band’s first release since 2016’s Walls, now the Followills seem more relieved that the album is finally on its way out, following its delay around the onset of the pandemic. Some band members choose not to listen to it for fear of wanting to make changes to songs, lyrics, or completely scrap the album.

“It’s been a long wait sitting on this music, and it’s always difficult knowing that you have something that you’re really excited for everyone to get to hear, and then being told you have to sit on it for a minute was tough,” says Nathan Followill. “But it also gave us a chance to live with it for a little while, and it’s still just as fresh today as it was on the first listen.”

“I was worried that I was going to want to change things, but when I did finally listen to it, I was very pleased,” says Caleb Followill. “If we did want to change something, we could have gone back and done it, but I think we had put in the work and it was the album that we wanted to put out.”

Throughout the recording of When You See Yourself, produced by Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Mumford & Sons), who also worked on Walls, all the innate concerns of how it would be perceived went out the window, and everything centred around the band making an album they would enjoy. “It was super important for us to feel like we made an album that we liked… and trying not to think about anything else,” says Matthew Followill. “We didn’t even think about radio or anything like that.”

Most of the 11 tracks averaging four and a half minutes, says Caleb, which doesn’t make it the most radio-friendly record by Kings of Leon. “It was just more like play the song while it feels good, and when it’s time to end the song, we end the song,” says Caleb. The band was also on the same page, sound-wise and with tracks, for the first time in nearly 20 years from the moment they stepped into Nashville’s Neon Leon studio for pre-production.

“This was definitely the most on the same page that we had all been on going into a project,” says Nathan. “In the past, Jared and Matt were like the younger voices that would bring cool type music that me and Caleb might not be listening to, so there were times when we were kind of in different directions… There was this just natural vacuum, and that makes it so much easier when you’re not feeling like you’re having to swim upstream to get a song as a group.”

Pulling a piece from the end of one of the album’s songs, the band landed on When You See Yourself as the title—and it stuck. At first, the words didn’t resonate with Caleb, who remembers writing them down and singing them. 

“After all of this, that we’ve all gone through together, you really do have to take a hard look at yourself, and see exactly who you are and how you can handle situations, and how you can be a part of the solution and be a part of something,” says Caleb. “I think I relate to it a little more than when I actually wrote the words down on paper, but the guys, they were the ones that had to fill in, ‘This means something more than what you just said.’”

The connecting for the band was in realizing that as you get older there’s so much that is out of your control, you begin questioning your place in the world. 

“It’s just kind of trying to connect with yourself and ask yourself, ‘What do you see when you see yourself?’” says Jared. “Sometimes you’re way harder on yourself than anybody else would be, and it’s just a good question to ask yourself… It really kind of just stuck with me and it kind of just grew from that—and it kind of shaped the vision of the whole album from that point on.”

For Kings of Leon, every album since 2003 debut Youth and Song Manhood has been a musical reflection of their growth.

“We were discovering new music and new things and we were growing as men,” says Caleb of the band’s journey together. “And so every experience we had, we’d come home and we’d just put it into music. And when you’re doing that, you look up and it’s like, ‘wow, we’ve made five albums in seven years,’  and it didn’t feel like that. It just felt like we were living our dream and something that we never thought would actually come true was coming true and just kept feeding the fire.”

Proud of When You See Yourself in its entirety, one song, “A Wave,” continues to echo for the band an is admittedly their favourite track. “I love ‘A Wave,’ and I think it’s just because we worked so long and so hard on it that if I didn’t say that, I would probably jump off a bridge or something, because I felt like we honestly worked on that song for about eight months, and it changed so many times,” says Jared. “I’m just proud of where it ended up, but I really like all of it.”

Working through its lyrics, Caleb remembers the band struggling to figure it out, and recording it several different ways. In the end, everything came back to the lyrics and lines, he says, because there was something pure about the song. “When we finally got it right, all of us were just like, ‘The nightmare is over,’” says Caleb. “We found a way to put it on the album, and we’re all very proud of it. It’s one of my proudest moments on the album.”

Kings of Leon  “When You See Yourself” The New Album Available Now

JAPANESE BREAKFAST – ” Jubilee “

Posted: March 4, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Michelle Zauner is back with her first Japanese Breakfast album since 2017’s ‘Soft Sounds From Another Planet’.  Zauner will publish her memoir Crying In H Mart later this year. Set for release in the UK on August 5th, the book is described as an “unflinching and powerful memoir about [Zauner] growing up Korean-American, losing her mother and forging her own identity”.

The new album ‘Jubilee’ – you can hear its lead single, ‘Be Sweet’. ‘Jubilee’ will be released on June 4th via Dead Oceans. Speaking about the process behind making the album, Zauner said that she’s “never wanted to rest on any laurels. I wanted to push it as far as it could go, inviting more people in and pushing myself as a composer, a producer, an arranger.”

“After spending the last five years writing about grief, I wanted our follow up to be about joy,” Zauner explained. “For me, a third record should feel bombastic and so I wanted to pull out all the stops for this one. “I wrote ‘Be Sweet’ with Jack Tatum from Wild Nothing a few years ago. I’ve been holding onto it for so long and am so excited to finally put it out there.”

For today, Michelle Zauner the mastermind behind Japanese Breakfast already has a busy year ahead of her third album “Jubilee”, the awaited follow-up to 2017’s Soft Sounds From Another Planet, which will be out June 4th. The song is packed with massive drum hits, Nile Rodgers-like guitar strums, and shimmering synths (Oh! How those synths shimmer). The album’s lead single is a joyous and hopeful introduction to Zauner’s next album, but it comes after a long period of mourning and growth; her first two albums coincided with witnessing her mother undergo cancer treatment and grieving her death. “After spending the last five years writing about grief, I wanted our follow up to be about joy,” she said of the new project. “For me, a third record should feel bombastic and so I wanted to pull out all the stops for this one. 

“Be Sweet” also comes with a fun video that Zauner directed which features Mannequin Pussy’s Marisa Dabice. Together they search for UFOs with a very legitimate looking neon-lit UFO tracker. “I want to believe in you / I want to believe in something,” Zauner sings during the chorus. 

“Be Sweet” the new song by Japanese Breakfast from ‘Jubilee’, out June 4th on Dead Oceans Records.

FLYYING COLOURS – ” Fantasy Country “

Posted: March 4, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Fans of shoegaze have long been praising the miraculous music of Australian four-piece Flyying Colours. Ever since the release of debut album Mindfulness in 2016, they have shot into the worldwide consciousness and developed a cult following. Now, with the release of second LP “Fantasy Country”, that underground audience is bursting at the seams and looks likely to break the band right into mainstream popularity.

Released through acclaimed indie label AC30, “Fantasy Country” is a delightfully playful revamp of 90’s psyche and alternative rock which recalls the best of the past whilst being energetic and innovative enough to always feel fresh, vital and new over the eight tracks.

“This album was supposed to now be 6-12 months old. We take touring and supporting our music live pretty seriously so it would have been very difficult for us to put out this album during the early stages of the pandemic. We are very lucky to be in Australia right now where shows are starting up again, and we of course hope to be touring internationally again soon”.

Flyying Colours have announced headline dates to promote their new material. Don’t miss them playing spectacular shows at The Chameleon in Nottingham, The Prince Albert at Brighton and The Lexington in London.

FAKE FRUIT – ” No Mutals “

Posted: March 3, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Fake Fruit distill Pink Flag era Wire, Pylon, and Mazzy Star to expound on the absurdity of modern life. Front woman Hannah D’Amato leads the group through three minute clap backs of minimal, moody post-punk. San Francisco’s Fake Fruit make indie rock that owes a little to Courtney Barnett, Life Without Buildings and early-’80s postpunk. Their debut album is out this Friday via Rocks in Your Head (the label run by Sonny Smith). The album’s lead track, “No Mutuals,” is a great taste of what’s in store. “Old Skin” is about that moment where you reach the clearing after digging yourself out of a no-good state of mind or relationship. It’s when you’re finally liberated and gain perspective on how bad things were. You can finally *exhale* as you put some dirt over the hole knowing you won’t be going back in there”

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Fake Fruit distill Wire from the time of Pink Flag, Pylon and Mazzy Star to expose the absurdity of modern life… when you find such condent claims regarding what’s going to be Oakland quartet’s self-titled debut album, which will be available on March 5th thanks to Rocks In Your Head Records, you know that Hannah D’Amato (vocals and guitar), Alex Post (guitar), Martin Miller (bass) and Miles MacDiarmid (drums), come willing to alter the minds of those who wish to put their ears on the post-punk, maximized in ‘No Mutuals’,which waters his first single and with which we can speculate on everything said above, sloping a daisy in which it appears  that, Public Practice and Pinch Points, may be somehow represented in the instrumentation, leaving the vowels for a ponytail that would envelop the courtney Barnett more pipe , screaming with sentimentality that is out of the rage pour into their subjects, and is that their thing, and more in the times they run, is to have fun on the stage.

Hannah D’Amato– Vox + Guitar
Alex Post– Lead Guitar
Miles MacDiarmid– Drums
Martin Miller- Bass

“No Mutals”, the new single from the debut record of Oakland’s Fake Fruit, available on Rocks In Your Head Records March 5th.

FAUVELY – ” Beautiful Places “

Posted: March 3, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The plans for, and the realities of, 2020 were so very different things for Chicago band Fauvely Indie rock with a dose of dream-pop, folk, and shoegaze for their upcoming album, “Beautiful Places”. The quartet, who split their time between Chicago and their home-town of Savannah, Georgia, A slot at an official SXSW Austin Showcase didnt go ahead. Like so many bands though, plans were dashed, the band instead turned their attention to the studio. The result is their upcoming debut album, “Beautiful Places”, a reflection on when things go awry and maintaining hope in the face of adversity. What makes anything beautiful? This collection of songs is about finding beauty where it might not traditionally exist. It’s about duality: light and dark, memory and haze, being stuck and running away. It’s about wanting more and needing less. Some of it autobiographical and some of it is not. This is a hopeful album about small moments of beauty and joy. We hope it brings you some sort of light in a world that can, at times, feel very dark.

Having previously supported the likes of Stella Donnelly and Hand Habits, Fauvely’s sound walks the line between the driving and the dreamy; at times drums clatter, bristling with intensity, at the other moments guitars seem to spiral off in almost directionless beauty. At the core throughout is songwriter and vocalist, Sophie Brochu, seems to be able to find a pocket of space in all the noise, With a presence demanding your focus, even as the backing gets chaotic and noisy, swirling around her. t arrives later in the Spring, “Beautiful Places” lives up to its name, it might just be the sort of destination you will want to head too this summer.

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All songs written by Sophie Brochu except “Run Run” (by Dale Price and Sophie Brochu) and “In the Dark” which is a cover of “Fishin’ in the Dark” (by Wendy Waldman and Jim Photogo).
The Band:
Sophie Brochu: guitar, vocals, lyrics
Dale Price: lead guitar, backing vocals, keys
Dave Piscotti: drums, backing vocals
Phil Conklin: bass

Featuring Mike Altergott on additional keys/synth

“Beautiful Places” is out April 2nd.

JONI MITCHELL – ” At The New Vic “

Posted: March 3, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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While recording Court and Spark, Joni Mitchell had tried to make a clean break with her earlier folk sound, producing the album herself and employing jazz / pop fusion outfit L.A. Express as what she called her first real backing group. In February 1974, her tour with L.A. Express began, and performances were met with rave reviews as the entourage travelled across the United States and Canada and then onto Europe.

On April 21st 1974 they played a stunning show at London’s New Victoria Theatre, which was recorded for television broadcast in the UK and back in the US too.

Joni’s back up band, Tom Scott and the L.A. Express, took the stage as a support. It was odd that given the Express had lent such a distinctive sound to Mitchell’s two most recent albums – ‘For The Roses’ and ‘Court and Spark’ – that their music should come over sounding so bland and programmed.

It was time. Joni Mitchell strode on, smiled, gave a self-conscious bow and picked up her guitar.  Joni opened the set with “This Flight Tonight”  It was as if she was singing about the concert as much as some plane flight, her ambivalent attitude towards performing resulted in a somewhat shakey delivery of that first song. Then it was “You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio” and all the critics’ worries were swept away. The live version completely transcended the studio cut, Mitchell duetting with the lead guitarist in a beautiful piece of call and response the two of them soaring in perfect unity. Only since her arrival had the band begun to play with more than precision. She inspired them and they, in turn, brought a new verve to old Mitchell tunes like “Woodstock” and “Rainy Night House”. Songs from the new album “Court and Spark”, were heavily featured throughout, thankfully, being carbon copies of the vinyl version. In fact, on “The Same Situation”, she totally blew the number, mixing the melody up with that of a new song in the making. Joni seemed as surprised as we were and giggled at her mistake. The band stopped, she then jokingly sang “Again and again and again and again the same situation” before coaxing from herself and the group a straight and perfect version of an extraordinary song:

The second half was quite simply the best performance by a contemporary singer that it’s been my good fortune to witness. Joni sang about 14 songs, accompanying herself at the piano, with Appalachian harp, with guitar, and once again with the help of L.A. Express. Throughout she sang with unequalled grace: now quivering, now shrieking, now talking the lyrics in a manner that astonishes one how well it all fits together. The special highlights were “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire” with a haunting off-stage solo from Tom Scott, a revamped version of her definitive romantic work “Both Sides Now” and the stomping finale “Raised on Robbery”:

The audience needed no second offer and they gave her a joyous standing ovation. She eventually returned and encored with “The Last Time I Saw Richard” followed by Annie Ross’ “Twisted”. Joni chatted about the song, as she had done earlier with “People’s Parties” and “For the Roses”, in a manner that displayed the intimate relationship she has with her audience. 

This record features the entire set performed by Joni Mitchell and LA Express that spring evening more 45 years ago, a concert which few have ever heard.

BOB DYLAN – “1970 ” 3-CD Set, Feat George Harrison

Posted: March 3, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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A new collection, Bob Dylan—1970, the first widely available pressing of a three-disc set of long-sought-after studio recordings many of which feature George Harrison, has been released by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings in the U.S. on February 26, 2021. (It’s U.K. release has been delayed until March 19th.) By ploughing through the roots of Bob Dylan’s storied legacy, Sony/Legacy’s official bootleg series has brought Dylan devotees the backstory of some of the most daring and dramatic episodes and interludes of the Bob’s 60-year career. While the outtakes and rarities have rarely been the equal of the official offerings, they’ve continued to provide a fascinating glimpse into the musical undertow that helped bring those milestones through to fruition. 

The latest in that series (curiously, the “Bootleg Series” handle doesn’t appear on this set) retraces much of the music covered on earlier installment of the series, Another Self Portrait, sharing early incarnations of songs.  The recordings on “Bob Dylan—1970″ were first released in a (very) limited edition as part of the Bob Dylan 50th Anniversary Collection copyright extension series (which began in 2012). That first batch sold out instantly. The 3-CD set, includes previously unreleased outtakes from the sessions that produced “Self Portrait” and “New Morning”, as well as the complete May 1st, 1970, studio recordings with his future bandmate Harrison, which capture the pair performing together on nine tracks, including Dylan originals (“One Too Many Mornings,” “Gates of Eden,” “Mama, You Been On My Mind”), covers (including the Everly Brothers’ “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” Carl Perkins’ “Matchbox,” The Beatles’ “Yesterday”) and more.

Consequently, many of the tracks included in this three CD set consist of early takes of songs that would eventually emerge on the latter (multiple run-throughs of “Went To See the Gypsy,” “Time Passes Slowly,” “Sign on the Window” and “If Not for You” dominate these discs overall) and candidates for tracks that might have made it to the latter—Buffy Saint-Marie’s “Universal Soldier,” Eric Andersen’s “Thirsty Boots” and Tom Paxton’s “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound,” along with any number of traditional tunes. 

Bob revisits a few of his own oldies as well—“I Don’t Believe You,” “One Too Man Mornings,” “Gates of Eden,” “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” “I Threw It All Away,” “Song To Woody,” and “If Not For You,” songs that span the breadth of his catalogue up until that point. Why he chose to retrace these tunes is a bit of a mystery, but one might assume they were intended as warm-up rehearsals for the players involved.

Two offerings in particular would seem of special interest, “Untitled 1970 Instrumental #1” and “Untitled 1970 Instrumental #2,” a pair of unfinished efforts that could have emerged as songs of significance had he chosen to complete them. The majority of these run-throughs come across as surprisingly complete and cohesive, with Dylan investing a full measure of sentiment and sensitivity. That’s especially evident on such songs as the aforementioned “Thirsty Boots” and “Universal Soldier.” There are off-handed moments as well, as heard  on “Little Moses,” where his back-up singers mug their way while over-exaggerating their contribution. 

Still, the biggest lure might be the inclusion of those fabled heretofore lost sessions with George Harrison which took place when Harrison came for a visit to Dylan’s Woodstock retreat. While Harrison’s presence will likely claim the lion’s share of attention, the tracks that find his participation are somewhat slight overall. His backing vocals and guitar contributions are somewhat negligible, even frivolous, as Harrison appears to defer to Dylan in each instance. (The exceptions lie in Harrison’s solo on “Mama You’ve Been On My Mind,” which is both expansive and expressive in equal measure, and Harrison’s heartfelt harmonies on “It AIn’t Me. Babe.”) Likewise, it’s somewhat strange that there’s no evidence of their collaboration on their co-credited “If Not For You.” Given the informal setting, those expecting some sort of regal revelation would best focus on the Traveling Wilburys recordings that arrived nearly two decades later. On the other hand, given the near mythical stature that these legendary Dylan-Harrison sessions have attained over the past five decades, compulsive collectors will find any inclusion welcome regardless.

The collection includes numerous takes of Dylan’s “If Not for You.” Several months after these sessions, Harrison recorded the song for his “All Things Must Pass” album, which was released at the end of the year. “Bob Dylan—1970″ comes housed in an eight-panel digipack featuring new cover art and liner notes by Michael Simmons. See the complete track listing and hear some other songs below the links.

Personnel: Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica George Harrison – guitar, vocals (Disc 1, Tracks 20 & 24 and Disc 2, Tracks 2-3, 6-7, 10-11, & 16) Bob Johnston – piano (Disc 1, Tracks 24-25 and Disc 2, Tracks 1-3) Charlie Daniels – bass Russ Kunkel – drums David Bromberg – guitar, dobro, mandolin Ron Cornelius – guitar Al Kooper – organ Charlie Daniels – bass, guitar Russ Kunkel – drums Buzzy Feiten – guitar

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