I’ve been spending all day downloading live shows.<\/p>\n
The Linda Ronstadt radio show from the Record Plant back in ’73 wasn’t as audio-exquisite as one might expect, it being broadcasted and everything.<\/p>\n
Karla Bonoff’s show from Nashville back in ’78 was revelatory.\u00c2\u00a0 How do they know the essence of life so young?\u00c2\u00a0 I had to enter my thirties, late twenties at best, before I knew most of what Karla and Jackson Browne were singing about as young pups.<\/p>\n
And speaking of Jackson, there’s a great show from the Main Point back in ’73.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s good enough to release as is.<\/p>\n
But not as good as this radio show from ’72, broadcast on WLIR.\u00c2\u00a0 This is BETTER than most live shows.\u00c2\u00a0 It sounds like they’re playing in your living room!<\/p>\n
Back before she became the poster child for baby boomer perseverance, getting kudos for hanging in there, through the bad relationships and alcohol to find commercial success, Bonnie Raitt was a blues mama.\u00c2\u00a0 An irreverent one at that.\u00c2\u00a0 Actually, she’s still irreverent.\u00c2\u00a0 In a business that takes itself way too seriously.<\/p>\n
When she sings that you should love her as a man, she retains all the sensitivities of a woman without being subservient.\u00c2\u00a0 When the Republicans are focused on so-called babes like Cindy McCain, I’d much rather spend time with someone three-dimensional, with a few miles on her, who’s not afraid to give me directions.<\/p>\n
There’s her take on "Love Has No Pride", from "Give It Up", long before Ronstadt made it a classic.\u00c2\u00a0 Bonnie’s not oversinging, she’s lived it.<\/p>\n
"You Got To Know How" is better than the take on the album.\u00c2\u00a0 Sans the production, it’s got authenticity.<\/p>\n
The apotheosis is "Can’t Find My Way Home".\u00c2\u00a0 And one of the reasons it exudes such magic is the help Bonnie receives from John Hammond and Lowell George.\u00c2\u00a0 Lowell’s slide is barely there, sneaking in from the sidelines, it adds a dose of reality, it adds character, it’s the plot of the song come alive.<\/p>\n
That was one of Lowell’s specialties.\u00c2\u00a0 Knowing when not to play.<\/p>\n
Subtlety’s gone out the window.\u00c2\u00a0 Everything’s faders up, in your face.\u00c2\u00a0 We revere melisma, the singers who can belt.\u00c2\u00a0 But turning it up to 11 only works if you know how to play at 2.<\/p>\n
Lowell doesn’t exactly play at 2 in his own number from this set, but he’s not jamming it down your throat, he draws you TO HIM!\u00c2\u00a0 Or, as Bonnie says…WAIT ‘TIL YOU HEAR THIS!\u00c2\u00a0 The fat man in the bathtub STEALS THE SHOW!<\/p>\n
Back when record companies were trustworthy, I got turned on to Little Feat by a Warner Brothers Loss Leader, a double album of the label’s wares sold mail order for $2.<\/p>\n
But I can’t say I loved "Dixie Chicken" from the moment I played it.\u00c2\u00a0 There was no context.\u00c2\u00a0 Lowell had played with Frank Zappa, but this didn’t sound like anything on "Weasels Ripped My Flesh".\u00c2\u00a0 But, then I got hooked by the penultimate number, "Juliette".<\/p>\n
Don’t sing sad songs, Juliette<\/span><\/p>\n We no longer believe the words our acts sing, if we can make them out at all.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re written by hacks, or illiterates.\u00c2\u00a0 And they’re sold with such force it’s like a book hitting you in the face.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas you’d prefer to turn the pages yourself, and let the story unfold.<\/p>\n That’s the power of Lowell George.\u00c2\u00a0 Occasionally he demanded attention, via a bit of bluster, but it’s the subtlety that got under your skin, that gave you the heebie-jeebies, that made you play the record again.<\/p>\n I can’t pick a favorite from "Dixie Chicken".\u00c2\u00a0 But I’d recommend the cut Bonnie ultimately covered, "Fool Yourself".<\/p>\n You might say you ain’t got a hold on yourself <\/span> What’s fascinating is the position from which Lowell George is singing.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s an observer, the best friend, giving advice.\u00c2\u00a0 Not just telling you what you want to hear, but splicing in some truth.<\/p>\n Lowell drugged himself to death.\u00c2\u00a0 Only the good die young.\u00c2\u00a0 But, unless you’ve had hits, you’re usually forgotten.\u00c2\u00a0 Living on only in the memories of those who experienced you, there being no traction amongst the younger generation.<\/p>\n If Lowell George had traction amongst young ‘uns, it’d be a completely different music business.\u00c2\u00a0 With the focus on music.<\/p>\n "A Apolitical Blues" appeared originally on "Sailin’ Shoes".\u00c2\u00a0 An album I went back and bought after wearing out "Dixie Chicken".\u00c2\u00a0 It contains my favorite Feat cut, "Easy To Slip", another take on "Willin’", "Tripe Face Boogie" and the title cut, ultimately covered by Robert Palmer.\u00c2\u00a0 You can hear a live take of "A Apolitical Blues" as a bonus cut on "The Last Record Album".\u00c2\u00a0 But both commercially-available versions pale in comparison to the live take from WLIR.<\/p>\n Nobody is watching, and probably not a ton of people were listening, Bonnie had not broken through yet, but Lowell is playing like it’s a telethon, like he’s finally got a shot to exhibit all his wares, like people are FINALLY PAYING ATTENTION!<\/p>\n His voice is so sweet, that even when he’s imploring it sounds like his vocals are covered in honey.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a man.\u00c2\u00a0 The kind who’s capable of loving the woman in Bonnie Raitt’s song.\u00c2\u00a0 He doesn’t show up with gold jewelry.\u00c2\u00a0 He doesn’t exit from a Mercedes.\u00c2\u00a0 He doesn’t look like a movie star.\u00c2\u00a0 He just exudes humanity, personality, CHARISMA! We’d been burned by the sixties.\u00c2\u00a0 Baby boomers were licking their wounds in apathy.\u00c2\u00a0 They’d tried to change the world and ended up with Nixon and an extended war in Vietnam.<\/p>\n Some people maintain that with the death of hope the flame of music was extinguished, that all the great stuff expired with the sixties.<\/p>\n But one listen to Lowell George will tell you otherwise.<\/p>\n Little Feat ultimately got some radio action, even had a song resembling a hit.\u00c2\u00a0 But Lowell did too much dope, ultimately went solo and died.\u00c2\u00a0 And since his triumphs were so subtle, he’s been forgotten.\u00c2\u00a0 But he shouldn’t be.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve been spending all day downloading live shows. The Linda Ronstadt radio show from the Record Plant back in ’73 wasn’t as audio-exquisite as one might expect, it being broadcasted and everything. Karla Bonoff’s show from Nashville back in ’78 was revelatory.\u00c2\u00a0 How do they know the essence of life so young?\u00c2\u00a0 I had to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-shows","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-lH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
You might say you always try your best <\/span>
You might say you only need a rest <\/span>
You might say you can only fool yourself <\/span>
I said fool yourself <\/span>
I said fool yourself<\/span><\/p>\n
Well my telephone was ringing<\/span>
They told me, told me it was Chairman Mao<\/span>
Well my telephone was ringing, hear it ringing?<\/span>
They told me it was Chairman Mao<\/span>
I don’t care who it is<\/span>
I just don’t want to talk to him now<\/span><\/p>\n