Also about Dave, I liked how a couple of my favorite artists gave Dave songs they'd not recorded that I think rank right up there with their very best; 'Crawlin' Through the Wreckage' by Graham Parker and 'Girls Talk' by Elvis Costello...
Roger Waters and Graham Nash on The Band.
I’ve just started reading the new book Levon Helm: Rock, Roll & Ramble; The Inside Story Of The Man, The Music, and The Midnight Ramble by John W. Barry (with a forward by Ringo Starr). I’m only on page 25 of the first chapter, and already I have read something I found very surprising:
Roger Waters: "Big Pink changed everything, overnight." (What have I been telling ya’ll? ;-). He continues: "It was sonic. It was the sound that they made all playing together. It was what they created. It was just completely different than anything I had heard before and it was remarkable. They (sic) were great songs as well. When I heard the record I went ’Wow, what was that?’ What a great band they were." No sh*t Sherlock.
Not as surprising is what I read in the paragraphs immediately preceding that of Waters, that being:
"When they served as opening act for the 1974 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young stadium tour, said Graham Nash: ’I would watch their set with great interest, of course.’
"But even though The Band was opening for CSNY, Nash remained in awe of them and, as a result, was too shy to approach any of the guys or chat them up."
’I should have, of course. I’m not particularly un-famous myself. But I was just too shy. They were too incredible a band in my mind...I mean holy sh*t, they were The Band...they were incredible. They were the best band in the world apart from The Beatles, as far as I was concerned. I was just a fan.’
Every good musician I knew felt just as did Roger and Graham, and still do. The best self-contained band (writing, singing, and playing) in the entire history of Rock ’n’ Roll. You see, Graham had the order reversed ;-) . When Abbey Road came out, it sounded like yesterdays news to me. The Band’s first two albums had completely changed the rules of the game. Those two albums still sound fresh, like they were recorded today. Abbey Road sounded dated to me on release day.
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@larsman: Very cool! I didn’t learn of Dave until reading about him by Greg Shaw in his Bomp! Magazine, around the time Get It was released---early ’77. Another life-changing moment! I made my way back to the first and second albums, being gobsmacked by "I Hear You Knocking" on the first---absolutely brilliant! I too saw Rockpile live---in 1980, and then Edmunds solo with his great band in ’82 (in NYC) and ’83 (back in L.A.). Fantastic! My ex’s all-time favorite live shows. And I also saw him on one of his literally solo (unaccompanied) tours, He performed in a guitar shop in L.A., playing a Telecaster (he toured with Rockpile playing his 1958 Gibson dot-neck ES335, not knowing how much those guitars are worth!) plugged into a small combo amp (so not literally acoustic). He closed the show with "Saber Dance", his "show-off" song" ;-) . Dave was my favorite 1970’s-80’s producer, of his albums of course, as well for Carlene Carter, The Flamin’ Groovies, The Everly Brothers, The Fab T-Birds, Dion, a few others. Oh yeah, The Stray Cats. Hey, a girl’s gotta eat ;-) . Speaking of songs given to him to record: Hank DeVito gave Dave (look out Dylan ;-) his "Playing With Queen Of Hearts" to record (DeVito had already appeared on Dave's albums), and it is way better than the version by Juice Newton. |
@lloydc: Wrong. You really shouldn't believe and then mindlessly regurgitate everything you read. When The Beatles were introduced the crowd went insane, rushing the stage and in the process knocking over all the folding chairs that filled the floor of the Cow Palace. I ended up right in front of Lennon, about 10 yards from the stage. On that edge of the stage (stage left) sat a PA speaker cabinet. I could hear them just fine, both though the PA and coming directly from their Vox amps and Ringo’s drums. I could clearly hear how Ringo had changed his part in "Ticket To Ride", his live part improving on the recorded one. They sounded pretty good, but not great. By the time I saw them (summer of '65) I had already started going to shows of local bands, and had seen The Beach Boys the previous summer (with Brian playing bass and singing falsetto). I actually was more impressed by The Beatles opening act: Sounds, Inc., an instrumental UK band. But then I was long-time fan of The Ventures. It's amazing that is was only two years later that I was going to The Fillmore to see and hear Cream, Hendrix, The Who, and all the rest. Things moved fast back then; bands now take more time between two subsequent albums than the time it took The Beatles to record their entire catalog! |
@bdp24 + 1 - and of course Dave also had his Rockfield Studio in Wales where a great many bands over the decades went to record... |
@jafant: Clapton put a carton of Music From Big Pink LP's in the boot (sorry, trunk ;-) of his car, giving a copy to every friend his visited in the summer of '68. That of course included George Harrison. George and Ringo became huge fans, and Ringo and Levon Helm very good friends. When I went to the book release of Levon's autobiography at Book Soup on Sunset Blvd. (across the street from Tower Records), Ringo showed up to have his copy of the book signed. He took cuts in line ;-) . |
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