Members Weekly Music Recommendations-June 25

[thebes]

Sorry I didn't get to play around with you guys last week. Good stuff and a couple I might add to the the list of music I need to buy.

It's that time of the year, graduations and weddings, all with at least one common theme and that's the parties will have some up tempo, widely recognized music in the background. Many of these tunes are like a shared memory and cross generations, which is a pretty cool thing. This group didn't make any of the playlists and mixes I heard during recent travels but they should have.

The Isley Brothers, "Showdown" lp, funk/disco

Some consider this to be their last great album and it does have two certified hits, "Take me to the Next Phase" and "Love Forever". Like Earth, Wind and Fire" the showmanship and vegas-style costumes disguise some seriously good musicians. Recording values are only ok or my copy is simply a bit worn.

Fun group with major chops and in their earlier days they helped out and recorded with young cat by the name of Jimmy James, better known as a Jimi Hendrix. Everybody should have at least one Isley Brothers in their collection.

So what do you have to share this week?

[oldbuckster]

Friday night I will have the pleasure of seeing LEVON HELM, drummer from THE BAND.........I can't wait, Levon doesn't play out that much, has bounced back from throat cancer.......stole the show in The Last Waltz......and now I get to see him in Albany, N.Y. at the EGG, a 950 seat theatre custom made for Music......so let's do some Band

THE BAND : Rock of Ages.........my favorite Band selection, a live New Years eve show, backed by a horn section. Just one helluva set of music, all the hits are there, plus the finale of Don't want to Hang Up My Rock n' Roll Shoes............if your a true fan, you own it, if not, and you like the Band, Get It................

STAGE FRIGHT.......their third studio album, many overlook this album, or dismiss it all together, this is a really fine album that the more I listen, the more I like it. To me, this was their last, good complete studio work. Many albums after this, but seemed like they became stall, and out of fresh ideas, and just put out some vinyl.

MUSIC FROM BIG PINK.......What the hell do you call this music? I didn't get it at first, but over the years it grows on you. Honest, simple, well crafted songs straight out of Woodstock, where Levon still lives today. Three members that can sing Lead, a fine guitarist, and some strange dude on keyboards, and horns......

THE BAND ; THE BAND.......This is the album that made them, pure American Music, even though 4 out of 5 members were Canadians....Who can forget Cripple Creek? When everyone else looked like hippies, these guys looked like old men, but they sure can play.......

These albums plus the Last Waltz really sums up their career. These, in my opinion, are the recordings the best show what the Band was all about.I didn't go into alot of detail,because I've written about these before...........Your either a Fan, or your not.......I can't begin to imagine a collection of Rock Music without the Band.......Give 'em a spin, kick back, and enjoy the journey..........LIFE IS A CARNIVAL....BELIEVE IT OR NOT..........EH!!!!

[seti]

Sorry I didn't get to play around with you guys last week. Good stuff and a couple I might add to the the list of music I need to buy.

It's that time of the year, graduations and weddings, all with at least one common theme and that's the parties will have some up tempo, widely recognized music in the background. Many of these tunes are like a shared memory and cross generations, which is a pretty cool thing. This group didn't make any of the playlists and mixes I heard during recent travels but they should have.

The Isley Brothers, "Showdown" lp, funk/disco

Some consider this to be their last great album and it does have two certified hits, "Take me to the Next Phase" and "Love Forever". Like Earth, Wind and Fire" the showmanship and vegas-style costumes disguise some seriously good musicians. Recording values are only ok or my copy is simply a bit worn.

Fun group with major chops and in their earlier days they helped out and recorded with young cat by the name of Jimmy James, better known as a Jimi Hendrix. Everybody should have at least one Isley Brothers in their collection.

So what do you have to share this week?

Is this a Scottish Funk band? A friend from Scotland was telling me about a Scottish Funk band that he used to see all the time but I could never remember the name. Could this be that band?

[hammertop]

Ok! Must be my turn, just a little stuff from "69-71".

The James Gang! Rick Walsh, Jim Fox and Dale Peters (Tom Kriss fills in on some tracks also). A 3 man band that sounded like 5 plus. 3 studio LPs, one live. Hard driving rock! Walsh really show his stuff.

Enjoy!

[thebes]

Seti here's a cover of the band. I don't think they are Scottish and sorry I can't recall any Scottish funk bands.

Hammer. The James Gang. Very cool. I do believe I have one around here someplace I'm going to have to dig out of the pile.

[seti]

Seti here's a cover of the band.  I don't think they are Scottish and sorry I can't recall any Scottish funk bands.

 

Hammer.  The James Gang.  Very cool.  I do believe I have one around here someplace I'm going to have to dig out of the pile. 

 

LOL HEHEHEHE Isley being in the title really gave me hope. I'll find them some day. 

[seti]

Ok I dug out some Ween the other day and they are growing on me more and more. I love there music catchy quirky weird and sometimes even catchy. If your sense of humor is warped and you like They Might Be Giants Zappa and Beefheart then this band is for you! I cant put my finger on it.

http://www.music-map.com/ween.html

Their earliest home recordings were anarchic and free-spirited, drawing on influences as far-reaching as Syd Barrett, The Beatles, Queen, Prince, Butthole Surfers, The Residents and the lo-fi punk movement. They self-released 5 cassettes in the late eighties; The Crucial Squeegie Lip, Axis: Bold As Boognish, Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death, The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD, and Prime 5. Around this time, Gene also released his own tape, Synthetic Socks, which featured Dean on a few songs. Ween was often compared in their early years to other offbeat artists such as Frank Zappa and Primus though they would always eschew such comparisons. Ween's public debut was a Purple Haze cover closing a 1987 talent show; the piece featured a solo, stand-up, acoustic bass and Chrissy Serino on drums.

Ween was signed to Twin/Tone Records in 1989 and released their first album GodWeenSatan: The Oneness in the following year, a 26-track smorgasbord of genre jumping and wild, silly eclecticism. 1991's The Pod became a fast fan favorite, as the duo's use of drum machines, pitch-tweaked guitars & vocals and drug-laced humor became a trademark part of their sound. The Pod, according to Ween-lore, was written under the influence of Scotchgard, but this was later refuted by Gene and Dean themselves as being "the most slime-bag thing we could think of." The contraption on the album cover is not a Scotchgard inhalation device, but a bong-like device used to send Marijuana directly to the brain by use of nitrous oxide, which was said to leave the user intoxicated for days, but nauseated. The cover of The Pod resembles the cover of the 1975 Leonard Cohen album, The Best of Leonard Cohen, but with Mean Ween (friend Chris Williams) wearing the aforementioned gas mask bong in place of Cohen.

Pure Guava, the first of a series of releases on the Elektra label, featured their highest charting single, "Push Th' Little Daisies" (1992) which gained them media & MTV attention, as the video was a highlighted target on MTV's Beavis & Butt-head. Chocolate and Cheese followed in 1994, heralding 70s pop/rock & soul sendups such as "Freedom of '76" and "Voodoo Lady". The "Freedom of '76" music video was directed by Spike Jonze. At this time, Ween began to expand their live and studio line-up, providing both a crisper production sound in the studio and an easier live setup (up until this time, Ween had been using DAT tapes to provide backings for their songs).

Ween turned to Nashville, Tennessee studio musicians for the recording of the authentically-spirited 12 Golden Country Greats (1996) which only contained ten tracks. There are two theories regarding the title of the album. The first claim is that it refers to the dozen veteran musicians, known as The Shit Creek Boys, who played on the album. The second claim refers to the fact that the band did indeed record twelve songs during the demo sessions for the album. When it came time to record the actual album, the band chose not to use two of the songs but also decided not to change the album title. The two removed songs were titled "I Got No Darkside" and "So Long, Jerry." "So Long, Jerry" did wind up as a B-Side on the "Piss Up A Rope" single.

The nautically-themed The Mollusk followed in 1997, featuring Ween's simultaneous satirization, deconstruction, and appreciative mastery of genres including 1960's Brit-pop, sea shanties, Broadway show tunes, and most especially, progressive rock. Their desire to pursue alternate forms of media led to the MP3-only release Craters of the Sac (1999), presented by Dean for online download and free trade. Elektra Records released a live compilation entitled Paintin' The Town Brown: Ween Live 1990-1998 in 1999, followed by White Pepper (2000), their pop-themed album and final studio set for Elektra. The track "Even If You Don't" was made into a music video directed by the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Shortly after White Pepper Ween started the internet radiostation WeenRadio, which was awarded 3rd best internet music site by Rolling Stone^{[citation needed]}.

Ween also formed their own label at this time, Chocodog Records, which oversaw the release of several self-produced live sets. The aforementioned Paintin' the Town Brown, which was compiled and mastered by the band, was meant to be the first Chocodog release. According to Dean Ween, once the album was completed, Elektra realized the sales potential of the CD and denied Ween the right to release it through Chocodog. Later, Ween released the first official Chocodog album, Live in Toronto (a live recording from the 1996 tour, in which Ween performed with The Shit Creek Boys). The limited-pressing CD, available exclusively through the band website, became an instant collector's item. Subsequent Chocodog releases (Live at Stubb's and All Request Live) were produced in higher volumes to meet demand. In 2005, the label released the first installment of a rarity compilation series entitled Shinola, and announced plans to re-release the 1987 cassette tape by Gene, Synthetic Socks.

The two signed to Sanctuary Records in 2003 and released Quebec, their first studio set in 3 years. In 2004, Ween released Live in Chicago, a DVD and CD set that chronicled a compilation of three energetic live performances for which the group is known.

In 2005 they released Shinola, Vol. 1 a collection of outtakes which received some positive press, especially in Europe^{[citation needed]}, which was followed up by two singles taken from the album, Monique The Freak and Gabrielle (2006).

In February of 2006, they rented an old farmhouse and converted it into a working studio. After writing over 50 songs and recording rough versions through 2006, they picked through them, and, with Andrew Weiss as producer, re-recorded album versions. As of March 2007, they are recording final versions of what they have said to be about 20 songs. On May 22, 2007 they announced they will be releasing an EP intitled "The Friends e.p." on June 8th. On June 6, 2007 they announced the EP "The Friends e.p." will not ship until June 19, 2007. Dean Ween said the E.P. will be "The ultimate party record, filled with good beats and good times. Perfect for your barbecue or doing bong hits or whatever it is that you guys do." And also they announced the new album will be released in the Fall.