I don’t recall ever hearing or seeing this George Harrison New Year’s song before! In that case, it’s both old and new to me, much like I could say for the past year, depending on when you asked. Have a happy and healthy New Year, and thanks for a fun 2010!
December brought a wealth of strong contenders:
Townsman Oats, from the Weezer thread:
As for writing about the same subject matter as Lou Reed, I wasn’t aware that once Lou covered a topic as it was meant to be covered, that meant the topic was then off-limits to all other songwriters, as there was no possible way anyone could ever find something new to say about something Lou already wrote about. Maybe Rivers should have been completely tone-deaf, grown a mullet and hired some jazzbo sidemen.
Townsman hrrundivbakshi had this spot-on analysis of the Cut the Crap-era Joe Strummer interview.
However, the winner of December’s Comment of the Month award goes to Townsman gregg, who first checked in with long-lost cousin as part of our report on Jim Morrison’s pardon. More recently, he followed up with an old friend, who it turned out was the eyewitness he had in mind. For his dogged pursuit of The Truth and, better yet, the rekindling of old friendships, and because of its historical relevance, this latest follow-up is our winner! Congratulations, gregg, and make sure your cousin and friend share in your honors!
I was there with my ex wife at the concert. Everybody made a big deal out of Jim Morrison pulling it out on stage. No one did anything to the girls that were exposing themselves in front of the stage. They were throwing bras and underwear up on the stage at Jim. He was feeling the mood! The view (the girls) was wonderful for me. The concert itself was terrible. It was the worst I had ever heard from them. They sang almost every song off key. Jim was really drunk. At the same time this was going on, they were rioting outside. They had oversold the concert and people were trying to crash the gate.
Will Your Mystery Date Be a Dream or a Dud?
Thanks to Townspeople who played along with, in my opinion, the biggest dud of a Mystery Date to date, and thanks to Townsman dbuskirk for the album, which I believe he thought sounded like a trial run for Boston. But as someone pointed out, Flower Travellin’ Band‘s “Slowly But Surely” at least unintentionally delivered David St. Hubbins-worthy chuckles. This song was from 1973’s double-live set, Make Up. Don’t worry, as with all Revealed posts we’ll leave you with at least one more track.
The band, first known as Flowers, was founded in the late-’60s by Yuya Uchida, who by this time had become friends with John Lennon after touring with The Beatles in 1966. Inspired by the likes of Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Jefferson Airplane, the band’s first album was, in fact, nothing but covers of their newfound-favorite psych-blues-rock bands. The album cover, as I learned while composing this piece, would have qualified for an old Last Man Standing/giveaway competition.
Buns!
The Make Up tour, you will be interested to know, what recorded on a tour that, originally, was supposed to have featured the band opening for The Rolling Stones. The Stones had to cancel, however, because Mick Jagger was facing a drug bust. Lucky Mick! There are some other odd facts to be found about the band, including mid-’70s work with Frank Zappa, one guy doing a 1980 album with The Wailers, a 2007 reunion and 2008 reunion album, and a planned 2010 tour, which was canceled when one of the members died.
I know you want to hear more from this album. Why not a long track that showcases all the band’s musical strengths and emotional range?
Flower Travellin’ Band, “Look at My Window”
I Can't Hold Myself In Line
As promised, Townsman Hank Fan has shared a .zip file compilation covering the “Golden Age of Country Music” (1965–1975) with us, I Can’t Hold Myself In Line. I encourage fellow Countryphobes to do what I’ve done—click here—and download and listen to this generous gift. Thanks, Hank Fan!
Let’s review the ground rules here. The Mystery Date song is not necessarily something I believe to be good. So feel free to rip it or praise it. Rather the song is something of interest due to the artist, influences, time period… Your job is to decipher as much as you can about the artist without research. Who do you think it is? Or, Who do you think it sounds like? When do you think it was recorded? Etc…
If you know who it is, don’t spoil it for the rest. Anyone who knows it can play the “mockcarr option.” (And I’ve got a hunch that one of you knows this one.) This option is for those of you who just can’t hold your tongue and must let everyone know just how in-the-know you are by calling it. So if you know who it is and want everyone else to know that you know, email Mr. Moderator at mrmoderator [at] rocktownhall [dot] com. If correct we will post how brilliant you are in the Comments section.
The real test of strength though is to guess as close as possible without knowing. Ready, steady, go!
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Mystery-Date-122910.mp3|titles=Mystery Date 122910](Thanks to the Townsperson who gave me this album many moons ago. Now keep your trap shut!)
Most horrifying image of 2010.
I hate year-end “best of” lists (in part, I’m sure, because of the disappointment of never finding my own works on them) but I love you, so let this be your place for listing your best, worst, and whatever of 2010!
E., Joe Strummer embodies you in this clip! It’s eerie.
